The DOCTOR is in......

This past weekend, we quietly, without tons of fanfare (but with lots of love and fun), celebrated a true milestone in our family's life.....our humble and funny and extremely talented son fulfilled a life long dream....he can now be called Dr.  
Funny thing, even though he did all the hard work and at times the isolating and all-consuming work for all of these years, he did not see this accomplishment as anything more than just another day in his world.  The immense joy and pride of seeing our son be rewarded for the things that he thinks are ordinary yet we know are extraordinary is a special thing.   The fact that he cautioned us early on that this was not going to a big party or a scream-from-the-rooftops kind of event made us realize just the kind of man we raised.   He is not the kind of guy who needs or wants a huge fuss made over him.  He doesn't think a PhD is a big deal and he certainly doesn't think he is any better or smarter than any other person on this planet.  He sees himself as the same kid as he was last week, last year and 10 years before that.  Even if his mother sees him as the same kid with a PhD.
Yet, we needed to celebrate.....
Well, to be more precise-- Carmen and I needed to celebrate.  So, we celebrated parenthood.  Regardless of all of  our son's smarts and with everything he has accomplished, we wanted to pat ourselves on the back for raising two phenomenal kids. Don't get me wrong--we are as proud as can be of what our boy has done and we are excited that he has reached this goal and we can't wait to see what he does next and where he goes and how he impacts the world.  But, listen, it's not everyday your kid becomes a DOCTOR.  And, not everyone can be blessed with a son so humble and down-to-earth that he doesn't even know how special he really is.  Must have been his upbringing.
So.....we celebrated.....with our children.  

The Doctor's parents......