Graduation Day

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that "individuality" is the key to success. ~Robert Orben

Well, this is it. The day a lot of young people have been waiting for. And their parents. And their grandparents.

Our daughter Christina is graduating today from college here at the University of MN, Morris. The sky is blue, the sun out and maybe a little warmth will filter into Minnesota from this astrophysical phenomenon. We're all sort of hankering for it.

Memories of my own graduations seem to hover in my thoughts. I remember practicing the Pomp & Circumstance at Hillside School when I graduated 8th grade. I remember zilch from the graduation. I also remember being jealous of Elizabeth Braughm (Brigham?) who wrote the official school song. My song came in second, and has been forever forgotten. Hers is probably long forgotten as well, though I do not cherish any secret pleasure in this thought. Our school colors were green and white, thus the robes were green.

I have a more complete memory of our high school graduation. It was an outdoor ceremony at the John Basilone Memorial Field and many of the guys had come drunk. It may be that I was too serious and felt the event a solemn rite of passage, or it may have been that my parents and grandparents were in the stands, but it shamed me when Bobby Politano knelt up close to the person in front of him and took a leak under her seat. When we got to the stage to receive our diplomas, Tom Newton asked that I point him in the right direction.

Alas, when the ceremony ended and everyone threw their caps and tassels I never saw mine again. I walked depressed from the football field and went off with the family wearing the gold gown and white sash of which our schools colors were comprised.

I do have another memorable gold and white grad memory, though. A few years later, our next door neighbor Kenny Koons was graduating. Wearing the gold and white cap and gown he'd come over to chill for an hour before he had to head to the ceremony. My family was on a vacation somewhere, so it was just he and I in the house. My brother Don had a set of handcuffs which for some reason Kenny had noticed, picked up and begun to examine. Suddenly, I heard an, "Uh-oh" from the living room. He'd locked himself up. We searched for a key with increasing desperation, but without success. The minutes ticked away, no luck. Suddenly, I had a thought. The Bridgewater police station is on Garretson Road where our high school was situated. Away we did drive.

I'll not forget the bemused expressions on the policemen's faces when I ushered an embarrassed Kenny wearing gold cap and gown into the police station and showed his handcuffed wrists. The officers used the tools of their trade, a big snapper like device that chomped through the steel in just a minute. Relieved, Kenny reached the graduation lineup just in time.

What I recall from my graduation from Ohio University is pretty sketchy. There were thousands graduating, and we were gathered in a large area wearing green robes and white sashes. I remember coming across my first college girl friend and having a nice talk. She was cheerful and it was good to see her. She'd been a little more mature than I when college started.

Of the ceremony itself, I still remember the opening lines of the keynote speaker's address. Not the precise words, but the gist of it. He mentioned a French word that is used to refer to the buttock or rear end of a Greek statue. He essentially said that when he used that word we would be five minutes from the end of his message. He then noted that he had just used the word. Evidently he was letting us know it would be a short speech and we were not going to get an earful of life advice that we'd never recall. As it turns out, he was right. I only remember my parents and grandparents afterwards taking pictures of me with my long dark shoulder length hair flowing out from the cap, and them being proud of my achievement.

Alas, coming full circle, it's my daughter's big day today. We shared a quiet evening with a few of her friends last night, and now we wait for the 1:30 ceremony signifying that her studies here have been completed. She's learned much these three years, both inside and outside the classrooms. As with many moments in time, every ending is but a beginning. Mom and dad are proud, wistful, and eager to see what adventures lie ahead.

To all you grads out there, Congradulations!