The last high school graduation I went to was in the middle of post-vaccine Covid. We all sat in the stands of a football field, socially distanced, and watched socially distanced seniors give speeches in the sunshine.
Well, that guy’s little brudder has achieved the culmination of his senior year and it was our turn to celebrate his turn.
What surprised me is that we went back to the indoor arena where *I* graduated way back in the stone ages of 1991.
Wanna see where I sat? I sat down here:
34 years ago, that’s where I was sitting. I didn’t take the picture from where mom was sitting back then. I was about 30 feet to the right of where she was taking pictures of me (with a single-function camera, as was the style at the time).
An hour later, the floor looked like this:
That’s him. The good-looking kiddo in the middle.
They don’t play Pomp and Circumstance anymore. I feel ripped off.
They do still talk about how many students were there all four years and how many students were there all *TWELVE* years and the three speeches given by the three students with GPAs in the 4.8s and we had to sit through (*SHUDDER*) the Superintendent reading us “If“.
Could have been worse, I guess. Could have been “Invictus“.
Anyway, as I sat there, looking at a field of kids graduating in the arena where I graduated 34 years ago, I did some numbers in my head. Maribou has a couple of Canadian nieces who are in high school and will be graduating soon (for somewhat broad definitions of “soon”) and our dear friends who had the *FIRST* kid in our circle to graduate (talked about him here!) have a kiddo in middle school who will be graduating in about 5 or 6 years, and my best buddy has three girls, the eldest of whom is still in elementary, and so I could theoretically be talked into any/all of those…
But I also could reasonably be expected to merely show up at the afterparty and hand the kiddo an envelope and say “we’re proud of ya!” and lift a sandwich and leave without being asked to enjoy high school seniors reading speeches while their voices crack and superintendents reading poetry.
I don’t think I miss it yet. Maybe someday I will, of course… but not yet.
I suppose, if I’m lucky, I’ll be there in 20 years complaining to the nephews about the seats and explaining that I sat over there back in the previous century and, last time I was here, I took a picture with a phone.
Knock wood.
This weekend will have a handful of graduation open houses and we will be going to one of them and wishing the best to the graduate, lifting a sandwich, and leaving.
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is the newfangled electronic billboard thingy that most assuredly was *NOT* there in 1991. Photo taken by the author.)
