A Quick Refresh in Time for Graduation

By the first post planning day, I wanted a nap. But a nap was not in my time frame as it was graduation evening for Tucker, Donna’s youngest. So, I ran into the house, dabbed a light layer of makeup over the faded one and slung my head upside-down. Adding some fluff into my hair that had been in a ponytail all day, I turned on the blow dryer and began moving my hands through the strands. I jerked off my clothes and grabbed a dress to shimmy on. Fastening the buckle on my shoes, I snatched a granola bar and some water, and I ran to the car. I reminisced of past graduations on my drive to Rome, Georgia. Since this generation started graduating, this is the twelfth family ceremony. Luckily, several of the kids graduated at the same rituals!

Concerned

I reached into the pocketbook to feel for some lipstick when I realized my purse did not match my sandals. Oh, great! That’s not good. At the red light near the auditorium, I texted Donna, “Mom would not be happy with my shoes and purse situation.” She replied, “Mine doesn’t match either and just from looking around the parking lot, I think I’m over-dressed!”.

Sitting down, it did not take me long to understand what she meant. Donna and I have had a fascination with people watching since our teenage years. I forgot my faux pas shoe/purse issue as we watched the crowds fill up the thousands of seats. We exchanged glances as pink hair and multiple-tattooed bodies meandered in. We eyed each other when there was too much skin showing. Our heads turned toward each other when we saw a man dressed in gym shorts with cowboy boots! We needed no words to convey the look of “something’s not right here! What happened to the days when people dressed up for special events?”

Restless

It took little time for my near fifty-year-old derriere and back to wish they would get the show on the road! Beginning his speech, the principal quickly realized he was addressing a different group of people, and he quickly apologized. There were a few more chuckles when he asked for no explosions of excitement or artificial noisemakers. Honestly, I was growing a little impatient for the whole ceremony to be over.

Educated in America

The crowd was noisy until a young lady walked up to the microphone and began to sing our national anthem. She had such power and strength in her voice, which snapped me back into the significance of the moment. Our youth are so privileged to live and be educated in America. As she sang, my thoughts fled for a moment to the sixth grader, who was from Uzbekistan, that I taught several years before. God love him; during his first four years of schooling, he use a stick and dirt as his writing supplies. As the young lady walked back to her seat, my thoughts were brought back to the present as the principal shared how her father, who was overseas serving in the military, would be so proud. (Though, I was a little confused as to why there was no flag in sight.) The band then played, and I smiled as I recognized the notes to “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”. As a Christian, I am so pleased, when the growing minority, is able to share out beliefs.

Extraordinary Effort

After a few speeches, the graduates began walking across the stage. Toward the R’s or S’s, I noticed a graduate pushing a wheelchair up the ramp in which sat a young boy dressed in his cap and gown. Though I had not an inkling of why he was in the wheelchair, I knew the magnitude of this moment. He rose, and the crowd stood immediately. He leaned on a peer and struggled successfully across the entire stage. The cheers respectfully boomed as he fought his way to the superintendent to receive his diploma. It was an incredibly wonderful interruption of the ceremony.

Tassels switched sides, caps were tossed, and chaos commenced as families found their graduate. Smiles and pictures. Then Donna shared, “He was diagnosed with cancer when he was about eleven. One leg and arm was amputated. He doesn’t use a prosthetic leg, but wanted to walk across the stage tonight.” Softy, she added, “A recent article in the newspaper stated that his cancer is back, and he has decided not to fight it.”

God, forgive us for taking so many things for granted: freedom to pray, public education, and health .God, gives us a heart to help those in need of a smile to encourage, not just on special days, but the ordinary too.

And so, while Donna and I went in for a sneak-attack-kiss-picture with Tucker, I realized that all twelve of these ceremony moments should never be taken for granted.