say 'mother may I' three times

Inspiration comes in many forms. Attending this year's law school graduation is one. I see those graduates, and as I inch closer each year, it still seems unfathomable that I could be there too. I'm not a fatalist, but the thought of actually achieving this goal often seems unlikely. Perhaps it's because so many have fallen away so far. We have lost more than half of those who began with us, many for reasons unrelated to grades. Money, family, unwillingness to give up so much else for years, the list is long. So who am I to think I will be one of the few who stay the course, who can keep her job so the bills can be paid, whose health and other major life events will not trip her up? I cross my fingers, throw salt over my left shoulder, do the hokey-pokey and any other manner of thing. I want this. And that may be tempting fate, if there is such a thing. I'm hedging all bets, and remembering not to get ahead of myself. Better to just think about today, this week, this class.