It’s hard to believe that my youngest daughter, Taylor, is now a college graduate. Not that the other two aren’t. My oldest, Anne, is now an architect at Artech here in town. My middle child is an archeologist and will be going back to school to get her master’s in education in the fall. But the baby? I mean, turning 50 last week was rough enough. Though I did have a great party catered by Deli Man and Cake Lady and David Johnson, who owned the former Sportsman’s Barbecue. But there’s something awesome and a little sad about reaching two milestones in the same week.

I’ve enjoyed my trips to Lexington, Va., over the past four years where my youngest, Taylor, has been matriculating at Washington and Lee University. The school’s a great one, and the town is nothing short of magical. I’ll really miss my annual trips up there. And there’s nothing saying I can’t return. It’s just six hours up the road. But it won’t be the same. It’s like going up to Sewanee, where Kaki graduated from the University of the South. When she was there, it was great. Now it’s just another town. A good one, though, with lots of good restaurants in and around the area. All’s not that bad, though. Taylor will be getting her masters/doctorate at Georgia Tech. From what I’ve heard, Atlanta’s got some pretty good restaurants that I can experience. If my 50-year-old waistline — that’s not as elastic as it once was — will allow me to do so. Oh, and for those of you yet to hit the half-century mark, let me answer to question posed to me by many during the week prior to the big day. It’s not scary. Just another day. Yeah, right.