126 - From little Backpack to BIG Graduation Cap

The one where Fern and Nat take you along on the emotional rollercoaster of traveling to UCF for their son’s graduation. From proud parent moments and funny family chaos to reflecting on how fast kids grow up, this episode is all about celebrating milestones, memories, and the journey of parenthood. enjoy the tears, laughs and chaos at the table. Also, a new theme song!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Welcome back to Limitless Table Talk. More time just passes you by. So fast. That you don't even expect it. I'm ferned.

SPEAKER_07 0:41

I'm Nat. So grab your favorite cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and let's chat.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

Chatterooski. So this episode is sponsored by Sunset Tattoo Parlor, where good vibes, great artists, and clean ink come together.

SPEAKER_07 0:57

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SPEAKER_02 1:06

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SPEAKER_07 1:20

Welcome back, everyone, where the conversations are real, the laughs are loud, and sometimes we cry in the parking garage at a graduation.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

I'm gonna say this. Nobody warned me that seeing your kid in a cap and gown would hit harder than gas prices on a Florida road trip.

SPEAKER_07 1:40

I mean, seriously, it that is true. One minute you're packing lunchables and signing permission slips for field trips, and the next minute you're sitting at UCF trying not to ugly cry in front of strangers.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

And failing miserably.

SPEAKER_07 1:57

We failed miserably on the city. It's pretty bad.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

It's it I think it's still hitting.

SPEAKER_07 2:02

Yeah, it is. It feels surreal. So today we're talking about our trip to our son's graduation at UCF. The emotions, the chaos, the memories, the family moments, and of course the realization that somehow Fern and I are old enough to have a college graduate.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Which feels totally fake because mentally I'm 27.

SPEAKER_07 2:28

Your knees disagree with you.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Yeah, they do. Way too often. Also, getting off the couch. Man, sometimes that's a more that's a that's a that's a mountain to climb.

SPEAKER_07 2:44

And you so well, you did say mentally, you didn't say physically. So but let's get into it. Let's talk about, let's start with the beginning, the drive to arrive there.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

So there's something emotional about road trips when it's for your kid. This wasn't just a hey, let's go to Orlando and have a great time for ourselves. This was years of sacrifices driving down that highway with us.

SPEAKER_07 3:19

That is so true because we've done that drive multiple times um in the past three years, like multiple times. Yes, the whole ride I kept thinking about all the stages, preschool drop-offs, school projects, football games, late night talks, all the moments that felt normal at the time, and suddenly I realized those were the good old days, and of course, we started getting sentimental because that's what we do, and then immediately started arguing over snacks. Because, okay, why do men buy road trip snacks like raccoons preparing for the winter?

SPEAKER_02 4:03

First of all, beef jerky is essential.

SPEAKER_07 4:06

You bought you brought enough snacks on this road trip to survive a natural disaster. We were only on a four-hour trip.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Emotional support pringles.

SPEAKER_07 4:18

Yeah, and you didn't even share your pringles. Why didn't you not bring any Pringles I like?

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Because they were for me. Oh they were my support system, your support system. There's nothing like pizza pringles. You know this.

SPEAKER_07 4:36

That's true. So we we we had the gown for graduation. The gown?

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 4:43

We had the gown. How many times did I ask you before we even drove out of our driveway if we had the gown in the car?

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Annoyingly, at least 84 times.

SPEAKER_07 4:55

Because I had a list and I will need we needed to make sure we didn't leave that behind. I didn't care if we left your clothes behind.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Well, I obviously didn't need to wear anything.

SPEAKER_07 5:05

Well, of course you had to wear something.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

You didn't show up with nothing.

SPEAKER_07 5:08

But I would have just taken you to like Walmart and bought you something. But we couldn't forget that gown. You just gave me the ick. We couldn't forget that gown. So, anyways, even when we stopped to put um gas and grab something to eat, can you imagine me showing up to a graduation wearing tube socks, crocs, some random Walmart shorts, and a random Walmart. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody did show up like that. Sure. Because we were more dressed than most people there. There were people in jeans and t-shirt.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

We were we were styling and profiling.

SPEAKER_07 5:51

There were people in jeans and t-shirts that I saw.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Yeah, it was pretty um, it was we'll just say it was a diverse crowd. It it was a central, it was a very Florida crowd. It was it was one of the most Florida places I've ever been. Because we're looking like like a night at the opera, right? We're looking like a million bucks.

SPEAKER_07 6:13

Like we were going to a wedding, probably.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Million bucks, right? And then you got some dude in a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops.

SPEAKER_07 6:27

Well, I saw one lady in jeans and a UCF t-shirt.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

I mean, you know, the the shirt was was appropriate, obviously. I guess because that you know, you're you're at a UCF event.

SPEAKER_07 6:41

But um so so this was our youngest that was graduating. Yes. Okay, so it it it was all the different emotions, all the different I don't know, I guess as a mom, um I it it was just overwhelming. Now I have no idea why in the world we are deciding to do this episode. Um, because when we talked about doing this episode, I cried half the time. And I still cry. So I may or may not get through this podcast recording without crying, just warning, letting you know I may cry.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Well, I'm sure that's gonna happen. Okay, I'm sure uh I may get slightly choked up at some point as well.

SPEAKER_07 7:37

I'm letting you know because I know it's coming. So just letting me know. Oh, it's coming. Oh, it's like a warning. It's been a it's been a week. It's been a week since he graduated today, actually, right? Or no, tomorrow. I don't know, anyways. It's been a week, and I still cry about it. It's just emotional. But, anyways, uh walking onto the campus felt surreal. Like seeing all the graduates taking pictures with their families, um, everybody smiling, parents crying, and us trying to figure out parking like contestants at a reality show.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

It's over here.

SPEAKER_07 8:17

Follow the crowd. We're gonna go. I swear UCF graduation parking deserves its own degree program for real.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Straight up bachelor's in stress management.

SPEAKER_07 8:27

They are good, but they are good, they were good, they were very organized, super organized. We were the ones that didn't know where we were going, but they were organized.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

I loved it.

SPEAKER_07 8:35

Coppers everywhere, but yeah, they were coppers everywhere. Um, but once once we parked, we got out of our car, and once you see, I'm already getting choked up. He put on his cap and gown. Woo! I can't even continue. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

That was a moment because no matter how old your kids get, you still see every single version of them at once. Like, like it's funny because I we were looking at photos, right? With him and uh and and his girlfriend.

SPEAKER_05 9:13

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

And we were going through like some of the goofy ones, some of the you know, and like every time I saw the photo, I was like, that guy. Oh, look at that guy, look at that guy. Oh, look at the goofy glasses, oh look at the look at the funny look, look at this, look at the that. Look at oh look, this is where Spider-Man happened, right? And um, and it's so funny, you know, now that I said Spider-Man, his graduation cap, he decorated his graduation cap.

SPEAKER_07 9:46

Yep, yep. It was all Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

All Spider-Man, different versions of him as he graduated, you know, Peter Parker graduating.

SPEAKER_07 9:56

He did a we did a graduation photo shoot, and he did it with um comic books of Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Yeah. Well, what what got me was the one that he did with uh that he had the Spider-Man Superman comic. Right? That got me. Every time I see that photo, it got me.

SPEAKER_07 10:16

Yeah, I mean, I looked at him and saw the little boy who used to fall asleep in front of the couch on the floor holding a toy car with his legs criss-crossed.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Yep, yep. I saw the kid who thought axe body spray counted as a shower.

SPEAKER_07 10:34

Growth, evolution, guys.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

You know, it's it's so funny because um I think I think sometimes about about this guy and and and what what a great what a great man he's become. Um what a great community you see it's happening today. What a great um uh inspiration for some people. Because he does a he does a good job. Like his job is a really good job. Like he helps um And what he wants what he's studying for what he's studying for, right? Because he does uh he works with um kids with special needs kids.

SPEAKER_07 11:17

And he's doing psych he graduated with his bachelor's in clinical psychology, and he he's going to go to med school and everything, and he wants to work with kids with special needs, and that's amazing. Like and it came from him, like it just was put in his heart, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Cause that's not what he or initially I mean, it lit you know, I don't and I don't remember that being his goal when he initially went to college. No, he wanted to be a radiologist, a radiologist, he wanted to he liked bone, he was really into bones, and uh he's still into bones, yeah. But this isn't his something that he f found a love for.

SPEAKER_07 11:58

I mean, we we we'll go back to the topic, but since we're talking right now about what he does and all that, we got to go to his job on this trip for the first time. We got to see where he works, we got to meet his co-workers, and the best part was we hear what he does because he tells us, his girlfriend tells us, and but it's so different as parents to walk into a classroom and have all the kids that he works with and teaches, like seeing how they light up, and then the teachers that work with him, the co-workers that work with him speak so highly of him, and telling us as parents that he's amazing with the kids, like just seeing how the kids lit up, how his face would light up with the kids, it was just an amazing, amazing feeling um to witness it and just to have um other people that we don't know at all that we're meeting for the first time tell us things about our son that we knew, but it's just amazing to hear about it.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Well, the thing is they're experiencing it and they're seeing it, you know?

SPEAKER_07 13:12

Yeah, it we did good, yeah. We did good, but all right, I know we're both just trying to avoid talking about graduation because we're both gonna cry, but anyways, I didn't think I was going to cry, like I really didn't think so.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

You cried before you even sat down.

SPEAKER_07 13:30

Listen, listen. When they started announcing graduates, and I saw all those families cheering, it hit me hard. Like it literally hit me hard.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

Because as parents, you carry every worry with you, every hard moment, every setback, every prayer.

SPEAKER_07 13:50

And then poof, your child succeeds. It feels like the whole family graduated emotionally. Like I felt like we graduated, like we should have walked the stage there.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

Facts. People see the diploma, but parents, we see the late nights, we see the struggles, we see the stress, the growing pains.

SPEAKER_07 14:15

And honestly, I was proud of us too. That part right there. Because let's be honest, parenting doesn't come with instructions, and you learn along the way, but as parents, you and I just kept showing up and kept loving our kids. We kept trying our best, especially, and we've mentioned this a lot of times before. We both have different upbringings, very so we really like did this like just doing our best what we can, and I'm proud of what we've done with all three, like literally, with all three. We're I'm proud. They are really, really cool people, but getting to that stage of we're going to a university graduation, like a big known school graduation, and my kid is one of those 10,000 kids that are graduating. Because that's how many kids apparently graduated in total at UCF. 10,000, because um, I'm a crazy mom and I follow UCF, everything of UCF. Um, and they announced it that there were 10,000 graduates, and out of those 10,000 graduates, Fern and I had one kid in there.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

Yep, and the only one with our last name. Oh, yeah, he watched it. Just that was pretty cool. And somehow our son made it across the stage, and and what was really cool is like I watched the video and he Spider-Man on his way out.

SPEAKER_06 16:00

Oh yeah, he did.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

He did the little, the little, the little the web thwip.

unknown 16:05

Thwip.

SPEAKER_06 16:05

Like they announced his name, gave him his diploma, and then he did the web thing.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

I was like, look at this guy.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

Hey dad. I just did the Spider-Man when I crossed the stage.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Like that's what I heard when it happened, even though it was completely inaudible. That's what I heard in my head as that happened.

SPEAKER_03 16:28

I said, Hey dad. I Spider Man.

SPEAKER_07 16:34

I mean, and and it was super cool because we didn't know where he was gonna be sitting, number one. By the way, in universities, they don't rehearse like in high schools.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

No, no, it's it's way too many, uh, and it's an entire arena, yeah, and it's not alphabetical, it's not alphabetical.

SPEAKER_07 16:53

In the order they kind of arrived and get in line.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

To be honest, I was hoping for alphabetical.

SPEAKER_07 16:58

But it worked out for us because he ended up sitting on the same side we were on, and literally right in the eye eyesight of us, like we were able to see him.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

Yeah, we had a nice bird's eye view of his cap.

SPEAKER_07 17:14

And I think I don't know about you, but what got me every time was when he would turn around smiling and wave at us and blow kisses and all that. Um, that got me every time. He would turn around and smile because I I I know he was nervous, he said it that he was nervous and all that, but I think he didn't like he himself, I feel, like, was thinking, oh my god, this is actually happening.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

He worked hard.

SPEAKER_07 17:45

He never took a break, no, and he graduated a year early.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

He never took a semester off. Um he packed his his his schedule so that it would be constant classes.

SPEAKER_07 18:00

He did the max amounts that he could do each semester, and he graduated a year early. Yeah, so like I don't know, just seeing him turning around with smiling and waving at us every time, that was awesome. Like for me, that was amazing. And he even texted you and said, Dad, I'm coming, I'm walking out now.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

I'm walking out. But proud of you, son. Yes, just so you know.

SPEAKER_07 18:29

So just because you and I are getting a little like eh emotional, let's do a then versus now. Then he would say, Mom, watch me jump off the couch, Dad, carry me.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

Because for some reason he can never walk.

SPEAKER_07 18:50

Can I sleep in your room tonight? Those were things that Nick he would say then, or can I have another car?

SPEAKER_02 18:59

He loved monster trucks, he loved monster trucks, um, which he had a different name for because he he couldn't really articulate speech very well.

SPEAKER_07 19:06

Yeah, he couldn't pronounce the T's, he would replace it with an F, so you guys picture what he said.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Yeah, I'll just say this every time he said it, it was hilarious.

SPEAKER_07 19:17

Yeah, and just like you and my sister taught him now when he turned one to teach, show everybody the middle finger and say, I'm one year old.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Yes, that is the correct thing to do with your kids. So, but now it's fun for us.

SPEAKER_07 19:32

It wasn't funny.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

It was hilarious to me.

SPEAKER_07 19:36

You would be in front of all the cars and you would tell our son, hey, tell the the lady what kind of car are you looking for? Monster what?

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Yes. And he would say every single time.

SPEAKER_07 19:48

Replace the T with the F and there it is.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 19:52

And remove the R. Because he would never say the C or C R. Yeah. Needless to say, now, what do we hear now?

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Hey then, can you van mo but it's always a text. But I read his text in his voice.

SPEAKER_03 20:06

Can you Venmo me?

SPEAKER_07 20:09

Can you help me move dorms or apartments? Remember that?

SPEAKER_02 20:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Oh, how many times? Uh do you know how expensive groceries are?

SPEAKER_07 20:21

Now he just calls or texts and says, Hey, quick question.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

And somehow, quick question always costs money. You know what he texted me the other day?

SPEAKER_03 20:32

Hey dad, I need to change my oil.

SPEAKER_07 20:35

Oh, yeah, I know. We just got back from there.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

And and and I said, I need to recuperate. So go change your oil. He's like, no, no, no. I need you to do it. I need you to help me do it.

unknown 20:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

And I and I can't say no to this guy.

SPEAKER_07 20:51

I know, but you're asking me if we're gonna go back next week. We just got back. I we need to recuperate from the weekend because not only, guys, did we enjoy ourselves, we also went to City Walk to celebrate, we went to dinner, we went to islands, like you know, because we have annual passes, might as well. So uh we got to enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

How about talking to Spider-Man?

SPEAKER_07 21:16

You did you talked to Spider Man?

SPEAKER_02 21:18

I talked to Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_07 21:19

We were those creepy parents.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Were those adults with no kids there?

SPEAKER_07 21:25

Standing in line to meet me. Standing in line to meet Spider-Man. Now that I think of it, we did look creepy for it.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

It was a little creepy.

SPEAKER_07 21:31

You were whipping out your phone going, Spidey, Spidey, look, my son graduated. Hold on, hold on.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Hold on, can we FaceTime him real quick?

SPEAKER_07 21:40

We looked creepy. Yeah. Now now needless to think about it. Yeah. It it really was. But Spider-Man did a whole recording for him.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

He did a whole recording. And what was great is that he's like, Oh yeah, I remember him.

SPEAKER_07 21:53

And I'm standing here going, We literally jumped in front of like a little kid.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Well, the kid had to wait. Because my kid wasn't even with us, but my kid needed to see Spidey.

SPEAKER_07 22:07

But he wasn't with us.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

My kid needed to see Spidey. I don't care. Hey, but it's a your kid versus my kid. My kid got to see Spidey. Your kid's gonna see Spidey. But you gotta wait for my kid. Doesn't matter. My kid got to see Spidey, and he was very happy about it. And Spidey was super cool. He was he was geeking out on the cap.

SPEAKER_06 22:35

Oh yeah. He zoomed in.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Spidey was geeking out on the cap.

SPEAKER_04 22:41

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

I was like, look at that. And then he's like, I remember those moments. I remember meeting MJ. I remember when I graduated. I'm like, Spidey, you're the best. Spidey is truly the best.

SPEAKER_06 22:54

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Now I totally get why my son is always like, hey. I'm like, what's up, son? Spider-Man. And that's it. That's all he says. Spider-Man. That's it. Okay.

unknown 23:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 23:09

For me, besides obviously being there to see my son graduate, amazing moment of my life. Um, I got to have all of my kids with me. Well, you you were there too, but with me.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

It didn't matter if I was there or not.

SPEAKER_07 23:27

Well, it was even more special because it was Mother's Day weekend.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_07 23:33

I got to have.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_07 23:35

No. I got to have.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

No.

SPEAKER_07 23:37

I got to have it.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_07 23:40

All of my kids with me together.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_07 23:47

You owe me a gift still.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

What are you talking about? I put all of your kids together.

SPEAKER_07 23:52

No, you did not. What did you do? Call UCF and saying do graduation this time?

SPEAKER_02 23:57

No. Then but I got them all to go.

SPEAKER_07 24:01

Well, no. His sisters went to see him.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

It doesn't matter how they went. I'm just saying I got them all to go. Not only that, but I kind of helped make those. So you're welcome, mom. What? You're welcome. Because I made you a mom. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_07 24:22

Um okay, that's a whole different topic. You're welcome. That's gonna be a topic later. Okay, anyway. Um I lost track. It was, it was just an amazing weekend. I mean, it's something that a lot of parents don't talk about because like parents don't really talk enough about this stage of life, like this stage that we're in right now. Everybody talks about the babies, the toddlers, the teenage years, but nobody ever prepares you for your kids growing up, going to college, and experiencing this. Because one day you realize they don't need you in the same way anymore, and that's and that's beautiful because that's what we raise our kids to be independent, but it's also heartbreaking. I don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 25:19

You spend years teaching them to become independent, and then when they actually do, you cry.

SPEAKER_07 25:27

Exactly. Like, excuse me, I raised you too well, I raised you too well. Like, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Now he's out here, educated, responsible. Hey, hey, calm down, relax.

SPEAKER_07 25:45

That's true. That that really is true. Um I'm just trying to soak it in. Oh, and then we had a family dinner after because this graduation, even though everything was very, very on point, um, everything was very organized, it was very long. We were there at 1215, 12:30.

SPEAKER_02 26:09

It ended like at 4-ish.

SPEAKER_07 26:12

Yeah. And then it was, we went back to change, and we went back to our hotel to change to then go to dinner. And the dinner after I um after graduation was one of my favorite parts.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

It was great. Everybody laughing, everybody telling stories, taking pictures 572 times, because nobody can blink correctly, like there's always that one wrong blink.

SPEAKER_07 26:40

Oh, or like our daughters are like, oh wait, how about my hair? Oh wait, so-and-so didn't look because tongue out. Because it wasn't just our kids that came.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

When did the tongue out picture begin? I don't know, the duck face too.

SPEAKER_07 26:55

The duck face, peace signs, you know, it was a little bit of everything. It was a little bit of everything. Um, because it was it wasn't just us and my and our kids. Um, my sister and her kids came too, which was awesome because they got to experience it with him. My mom was there. So this was like we were like a party of 12. Yes, you know, and trying to get 12 people to look at the camera all at the same time. Listen, we're I'm surprised that waitress got all of us. But, anyways, um, I feel like family dinners after big moments always, always feels extra special.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

They do, they are, and of course, you have that moment where somebody ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, like they personally graduated to.

SPEAKER_07 27:44

Graduation dinner math is very dangerous. But but be but how awesome was it for you because backtrack a day before, you got to have your first drink with your son.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

Yes. Yes, because he recently became of age.

SPEAKER_07 28:01

And he he wasn't here when he turned 21. Correct. He was back home. Correct. Well, back at his home, not in our um, so you got to have your first drink with him, and at graduation dinner, he got to have his first drink with his sisters, correct? Yes, which was cool, I think.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

It was very cool, it was very cool. The the bill was not very cool, no, but it was very cool. Honestly, those are the moments you remember forever sitting around the table, realizing how far your family has come. You know, because he's the he's the little. He's the little. So now the little is is is his wings are are out.

SPEAKER_07 28:46

He became a butterfly.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

He became a butterfly.

SPEAKER_07 28:51

Well, he he he grew his wings.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

I think he's more like an eagle. Okay, whatever soaring high above the uh the atmosphere.

SPEAKER_07 29:04

Okay, I'm gonna throw you a little curveball for a minute. Since you had, because there's people out there that have kind of um similar or same kind of background that you did, that you do, the way you were raised and and all that. Well, and here you are, married, with three kids, all adults, graduating. Um how does that I don't know, like what would how does that make you feel? Because you did say from and we've mentioned this before, in the beginning, when you and I got together and all that, you always said you wanted a different life for your kids. I did. So as a as a parent, how do you feel about that? Like, like what would you say?

SPEAKER_02 30:00

I said, if I can go back and talk to young Fern, I would say all of your failures and all of your disappointments and all of your successes, you're gonna have to go through that so that you can get to the moment where you can say, Good job, Fern. Good job. You did good, man. You you got a good family, you got great kids, you got an amazing wife and a great life that you have helped build. But it took a lot of work and it took a lot of failure to get here. But if you don't go that way, you're not gonna be able to get to where you need to get to.

SPEAKER_07 30:51

And that's good for someone who probably is going went through it and feels like I can't have this in my life, or I wouldn't be uh a good mother or father, depending. It can be done, right? Like you can change um the story, you can break the cycle of how you were raised. Uh, and this is just an experience that we've been through with two different backgrounds because that's something really big in all honesty. We've seen we've heard a lot of people say, like, and we've seen it. Oh, I got raised X, Y, and Z, and this is what I guess my life is supposed to be, or how I'm supposed to treat my children as well.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Yeah, you keep going through the same circles. The pattern repeats, the pattern repeats. Unless you decide that you're gonna break the pattern and actually follow through and do it, um, you can continue going in the same circles.

SPEAKER_07 32:03

You write your own story, right? You write your own story. Um, we lean, we always lean back on God and prayer, but you you are your own art author. Like you write your story, you can break that cycle, and you can say, I want my kids or my marriage or my life to be different than what I had. And you can do it. Look at us. Here we are talking about our son's graduation and talking about that. We wanted to leave a little message for our son. All right, to our son.

SPEAKER_02 32:43

We are so proud of you, not just because you graduated, but because of the person you've become.

SPEAKER_07 32:51

You're kind, strong, funny, smart, determined. You work hard for this moment, and you earned it, and no matter how old you ever get, you'll always be our little baby.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Even though now you have a degree, and probably no more than us academically, because we're probably pretty dumb.

SPEAKER_07 33:15

Always, always know we love you very much.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

And we are proud to be your parents.

SPEAKER_07 33:28

Yeah. So if you're a parent listening to this, hug your kids a little tighter, even when they're grown.

SPEAKER_02 33:38

And celebrate the little moments while they're happening. Because one day you'll look back and realize they were actually pretty big moments.

SPEAKER_07 33:47

So true. Thank you guys for listening to Limitless Table Talk with Fernand.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Make sure to like, subscribe, like, subscribe. Sorry. Make sure to like, subscribe, share, and send this episode to another proud parent.

SPEAKER_07 34:07

And to the class of 2026. Congratulations. Go nights.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

Go nights.

SPEAKER_07 34:16

Charge on.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

And now excuse us while we recover emotionally.

SPEAKER_07 34:24

And financially.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

And financially. Period.