This year I got a really good sense of how old I am.

Not only did I complete my freshman year of college, but three people in my immediate family graduated all within one week of each other. My dad finished his second Masters in Latino and Latin American Studies, my brother Alex graduated high school, and my little brother Max finished middle school. Like, I mean— dude. Slow the hell down.

It was a tough year, though. With the firstborn kid (moi) absent from a tightknit family dynamic and three people in the last years of their respective schools, there wasn’t a FaceTime call home that didn’t include a mention of the suffocating layer of stress infusing my household. The air, my family told me, was hard to breathe.

My dad was in the worst shape. He had taken on a second Masters purely on an intellectual whim, being the nerd he is, and had struggled for the past two years balancing the roles of fulltime student, fulltime college professor, and fulltime dad. Everyone said he was nuts, and, well, he was (is).

Alex was having a really tough time with college applications. Those damn apps affect us all, but to him in particular, they broke down how he thought of himself and he had a difficult time balancing his workload. As a result, he was always stressed and moody, and prone to arguments with the rest of the family.

My little brother was growing up. A teenager arising from the haze of pubescence is always a stressful endeavor for the entire family, and he was no exception. But more than that, he was trying to discover what type of person he wanted to be, and he shifted between social magnate and introverted nerd continuously.

But when I surprised them all on the night of Alex’s graduation, I saw in their tears how much they had overcome. My dad had graduated the week before and Max graduated the day after, but for each of them, their commencement ceremonies celebrated something more than a passing, something more than an academic achievement. Each of them had overcome personal obstacles and gotten their hearts through the storm of their minds. I cried for each of them, because there’s nothing like the pride you feel for your family members achieving greatness— those are the absolute best tears.

Visiting home for a week before going back to school, I can feel the shift in energy. Summer always brings good vibes, but with the three men in the house moving on to the next significant parts of their lives, all with diplomas under their belts, there’s something special in the air.

To my dad, Alex, and Max,

I love you guys. :)