For Elyse

When you’re a parent you invest a lot of time and energy worrying about your kids. Especially as they grow up and move out of your house. Been there twice. The second time wasn’t any better than the first. As a matter of fact, both times happened simultaneously. That’s another W.A.R. Story for another time.

Anyways, our youngest daughter, Elyse, has always been very focused on what she wants and always perseveres at getting what she wants. I’m not going to say she’s stubborn. I can tell you more stories, but I’ll wait. We came back to the States, after living in Germany for six and a half years, when she was a second-semester junior in high school. Soon after settling in Monument, Colorado, we suggested to her that she might want to be looking for a college to go to, assuming she was going to attend college. She did. One college. I suggested to her that she should apply for several, someone might take her. Nope. She applied to one. And that’s where she was going to go. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. She picked the College of the Ozarks near Branson, Missouri. Great school! I was teaching at the Air Force Academy’s Center for Character and Leadership Development at the time and we had a solid partnership with CofO, so I was pleased, but still concerned that she’d picked just one school. But that’s Elyse.

She persevered, and was selected to attend CofO, Hard Work U! The educator in me was jubilant. The parent in me, not so much. I knew a little bit about the school. It had a GREAT reputation. But was it the place for my Princess? We decided to find out. We went out there for a Parents Orientation. Our purpose was to decide whether or not CofO was the place for Elyse.

Albert Einstein said that “you can live your life in one of two ways; as if there are no such things as miracles, or as if everything is.” I’ve always chosen the latter. So, Deb and I split up from Elyse on this incredibly beautiful, yet a little humid, day in the Ozarks and took a walk around the campus. We’re, literally, pondering whether we want to let our baby go so far away when there are plenty of schools near home. As we walk toward the entrance to the chapel, which is beautiful and the center of the campus and their culture, we both, simultaneously, hear music emanating from the open front door. It’s the sound of a piano. As we turn the corner, we realize that the pianist is playing one of our most favoritest Beethoven piano pieces. In fact, it’s where we got Elyse’s name. The piece is titled, Für Elise. For Elise. We had to spell her name different, but she’s so much like the music, that I’m positive Beethoven wrote it for our Elyse. Positive!

Sometimes, we have to open our ears and our hearts to see what’s right in front of us. We have to be observant of the signs the Creator is transmitting to us so that we can make the right decisions for ourselves and our loved ones. Elyse attended and graduated CofO. It was the right place for her. She knew that before we did. She seems to know a lot of things before we do. Listen with your heart and your eyes as well as your ears. The signs are there to answer your every question.

bob vásquez