Congrats Chris!

Today my "little" brother Chris graduated from Northern Illinois University. I have to tell you it has been a long time coming for him, and today he deserves all the accolades. There is something to be said about his perseverance through so much adversity over the greater part of the last decade. Chris started out his post-high school education at College of Dupage. An admirable and smart thing to do, and he made his way through many of his prerequisites and general education classes before getting to NIU. While at NIU, besides experiencing some financial setbacks and having to work his way back to pay a debt to the college before continuing and eventually finishing up his education, has also been through a marriage, divorce, moving out, moving back in with our parents, and more (and not in that order either).

However, as with his story, it is not important that we are knocked down. The important thing rather is that we do, in fact, get back up and fight through whatever obstacles are in front of us and strive to reach our goals. While sitting in the audience with our family, I myself felt so proud of my brother and what he has done, and I can't fathom the amount of pride felt by my Mom and Dad. I kind of had some flashback-type feelings, remembering when we were children acting up, playing baseball, going through school grades one-by-one, injuries and accidents, etc. My brother and I are so blessed to say that my parents didn't miss much, and because of it we are where we are, and my brother was walking across the stage accepting his degree because of it, too. But today is Chris's day, and will be remembered not as the finish line, but as the sound of the starting gun for the race that is his run towards his goals and successes to come. Congrats, Chris! Cheers! Salud! Prost! Nostrovia! Keep your head high and look to the stars! Thanks for reading everyone!