The Graduate

This weekend we'll be celebrating a long-awaited, much-anticipated milestone: Our oldest son, Nathan, will get his bachelor's degree from Portland State University. Actually, make that plural. He's graduating with degrees in business and marketing.

To say he's traveled a long and winding path to this point is an understatement. To say we admire his perseverance and celebrate his accomplishment, similarly, doesn't begin to convey our pride.

Nathan graduated from high school in 1998. That fall, we moved him into a fourth-floor dorm at the University of Oregon, with a good feeling that he'd come into his own in a place known for its liberal campus politics and comprehensive course offerings. I still remember pulling away from the curb that day, feeling wistful, as he waved goodbye. The emotions hit Lori and me like a ton of bricks as we headed back to the freeway for the two-hour drive back home.

Over the next three-plus years, it became evident the U of O and Eugene weren't the best fit. Too school was big, too impersonal, too unstructured. Nathan left school, moved around a bit, struggled to find to work and, finally, broke off a toxic relationship with his then-girlfriend.

To our delight, he came back to Portland to right himself. He enrolled at Portland State and proceeded to bear down in pursuit of the goal that had eluded him. The difference has been astounding -- nothing less than a transformation. His grades have steadily improved (including a 4.0 last term ), he's made a whole new set of friends and he's become a fixture in the city's nightclubs as a DJ with the moniker Nathan Detroit. Along the way, he's dropped a lot of weight, changed his diet for the better and reintegrated himself into our family.

On Saturday, he'll be among the thousands of graduates in cap and gown, striding across the stage at the Rose Garden Arena to accept his college degrees. We'll take him to brunch and celebrate. On Sunday, we''ll have a get-together here at our home for friends and family to again recognize his success.

Of course, we wish he were entering the job market under entirely different conditions. Still, at 29, he's now much better positioned to compete for a job now and in the future.

We thought long and hard about what name to give our first-born. Then and now, the name fits. In Hebrew, Nathan means "gift of God."

This weekend, we'll give him all the love, support and encouragement we can muster to get him started on his new path.