Day 212 - Two Degrees and a Check to the IRS

May 08, 2026

Title

Two Degrees and a Check to the IRS: The Weight of a Milestone

Opening Moment

A son and daughter graduating from college on the same day
A major milestone for them—and for the parents who helped get them there

Core Idea

Graduation feels like an ending, but it’s really a beginning
A marker of transition into adulthood

Looking Back

Reflecting on personal adulthood milestones:
- Marriage
- First real job
- Starting a family
- Filing taxes for the first time

What Makes a Milestone Meaningful

It represents years of effort, sacrifice, and change
Not just for the graduates—but for the family around them

The Parent Perspective

Pride in seeing children reach this point
Relief after years of pressure and challenges
Exhaustion from the journey that led here

The Generational Layer

Parents didn’t get to witness the author’s graduation
Now they get to watch their grandchildren graduate
A meaningful full-circle moment

Episode Transcript

Guy Reams (00:01.208)
This is day 212, two degrees and a check to the IRS. Today, my son and my daughter both graduate from college. This is supposed to be a major milestone in their lives. And I suppose it is, one for us parents too. We did it. We got them through college. Does that mean we are done now? Something tells me this is just the beginning.

I remember this time in my own life, it was around then that I had gotten married, I started having children, got my first real job, and filed my first 1040. I suppose the day I wrote a check to the IRS was the day that I knew that I had officially grown up. So today we celebrate our kids beginning their adult lives. I'm not sure how I feel about it, mostly exhausted, not because of anything they did, but just a time period in our lives.

disruption, chaos, some stress, pressure, a few health issues, all the above, and then you have to go to the graduation ceremony. I wonder if that was what was going on in my parents' lives when I was at this stage. Well, come to think of it, I did not have a college graduation ceremony. Maybe I should feel bad about that. My parents did not get to have this moment. Well, they're going with me today, however. They get to watch their grandkids get college degrees. I guess I made up for my transgression.

Since I was a college teacher and graduation was required attendance, I paid for my reluctance to walk 22 times each year that I collected a salary as a professor. Not sure why I bring this up, perhaps just to signify the significance of the moment. The gratitude to have made it this far.

It feels like the day I ran my first marathon. Happy, relieved, but pretty much ready to eat a pizza and pass out. That is where I am right now. Grateful to be here, grateful they made it, grateful my parents get to see it, but also aware that this is not an ending. It's just a simple marker along the way. So today I will sit in that auditorium or amphitheater and watch them walk across the stage. I feel the weight of the years and the relief of the moment, and then I will take the next step, whatever that.

Guy Reams (02:11.256)
turns out to be.