graduation

Thursday night I went to the graduation ceremony for my future daughter-in-law, April. She graduated from South Central College with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Community Social Service.

We met up at their apartment in North Mankato where I was mightily entertained by Zoey. She did handstands and sang songs and asked me why I was old. Then she guessed my age as 10. I laughed and laughed. She is a hoot.

We had quite a crowd. April's grandpa, Joe. Her mom, Kelly. Her sister, Erin. Friends Scott and Jackie. Tiffany and Elliot. Steve and Brenda. Grandma Dorothy. Kevin and Rachel. What a nice group of folks.

I've been to three SCC graduations now and they are always so much fun. There is plenty of pomp but there is also cheering, air horns, lots of interruptions for photos, and obvious pride from the graduates and their families.

As you would expect, the list of graduates (which I read from beginning to end) contained a lot of names I could neither pronounce nor spell. The thing I found interesting is that there were so many grads who claimed other countries as their home. Immigrants new enough to this country that they still call the old country home? I found: Ceylon, Somalia, West Arsi, Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Mexico.

We were all so proud of April. I am always weepy at these kinds of things and this was no different. I cried when I saw her name in the program. I cried when I took a picture of April with Peter. I cried during Pomp and Circumstance. I cried when they started lining up to receive their diplomas. I cried the most when Zoey saw her mom and yelled out, "Mommy, I love you!" A big old cry fest, it was.

It was a lovely ceremony and a wonderful evening. Our big, old messy family. Loving each other and supporting April in her accomplishment.