It's Graduation Time

Sandra Robbins with a few thoughts about graduation:

My town only has one high school, and I didn’t even realize last Friday night was graduation. When my sister asked me on Saturday if I’d attended, I had to confess I didn’t even know the date this year.

Maybe the relief that I didn’t have to attend made me put the whole thing from my mind. For the past three years, I’ve fought the crowds for a seat to see a family member graduate, but not this year. In the two hundred member graduating class, we had no relatives receiving a diploma.

However, I’m not getting off that easily. In two weeks I travel to Texas to see my granddaughter graduate from her high school. Her class has about nine hundred graduates, so it’ll be even more crowded and much longer. I remember when her brother graduated, we all cheered wildly when the last student, a young man whose name started with Y, walked across the stage to receive his diploma.

One might think I’m complaining, but I’m not. I’m thrilled that she is graduating as an honor student and has achieved her goal of being accepted into the film school at USC. I must admit that I’m apprehensive about her going to California to school just like I was for her brother when he went to New York to college. Now they’ll be on opposite sides of the country, experiencing two totally different college environments. She’ll be studying film, and he’s studying naval engineering and ship design. Their schools are very different from the state school I attended, but I’m thankful for the opportunities they have and the experiences that await them.

Over the next few weeks, thousands of students will be receiving diplomas, and their families will be just as proud of their children’s accomplishments as I am of mine. So, I congratulate all the graduates this year and wish them well as they step out into the real world. We who love them have laid the foundation. Now it’s their time to follow their dreams.

Do you have someone graduating this year? What are you wishes for them?