Our College Graduate

Today was the day that we had been looking forward to for these past four years, the day that Cal graduated from IU.  As proud as we were of his accomplishments as an undergraduate, I couldn't help but feel really sad today.  We had planned such a fun celebration this weekend.  It was hard not to think about that without tearing up.  I think that part of the reason that I felt disappointed was that we participated in Ken Brower's graduation parade.  I told Meg that I was doing more for him than I was my own child.  She and Cam offered to drive with me to Bloomington so that we could lead a parade for him as well.  I laughed as I couldn't imagine going to IU right now as they were still under phase 1 of the stay at home order.

By lunchtime I did start feeling better.  I realized that it wasn't about the day, but about supporting him during his college years.  He had done exceptionally well at IU and had made the most of his life in Bloomington.  Cal called later to check in and let us know what he and his roommates had been doing to celebrate their graduation.  He said that several of his friends' parents had come down to take pictures on campus and host a party for their graduates.  I was completely surprised and at first felt awful that we hadn't thought about doing that.  We had planned to wait to do something once the stay at home order had been completely lifted and we had Cal's cap and gown which was held up in production due to manufacturing closures in Illinois.  The more I thought about it after our conversation I realized that Meg and Doug were right.  Our decision to wait made the most sense for our family since there wasn't much to do in Bloomington right now and we couldn't invite others to a get together.  We also weren't looking to hang out with a lot of other families that we didn't know right now.  We will get to celebrate one day and it will be a lot of fun.  Until then we will take pride in the fact that Cal is a college graduate.