Oh, man,
what a month! I’m only now beginning to recover from the dual graduation festivities
of the past two weeks.
Let’s see.
May began easily enough. At least for the Mrs. and me. The girls were under a
bit of pressure, finishing up papers and projects and such, though it seems to
me Patch took a lot of senior days off. Little One was fielding job interviews
and secured that rarity of rarities for 2026 college graduates: a full-time
position beginning at the end of July. The Mrs. had a week touring with
higher-ups out in southern Texas and had to juggle booking restaurants. Me, I
had to cope with the threat of the upcoming social engagements and the looming
empty nest.
Let’s
leave those thoughts apart for now.
Little One’s
college graduation came first. She finished her degree in education cum laude
and interviewed and accepted a position in a local grammar school teaching
Fourth Grade math. Couldn’t be more proud of her. The risks she took and the
successes she attained in the past four years I’ve never seen before.
She’s a completely different woman – confident, assertive, decisive. And we
chose her college wisely, because it didn’t transform her into a blue-haired bull-ringed
lesbian who hates everything her parents believe in. In other words, she’s a
normal kid who transitioned into a normal adult.
Her celebration
started off on Friday the 15th with a mass with the Archbishop of Dallas a few
towns over. The wife, Patch, and myself attended with my sister-in-law and
Little One’s boyfriend. Little One herself was somewhere in the hundredsfold of
graduates in the center pews. We only glimpsed her as she went up for communion. Afterwards
we all went to a trendy local place for dinner (I had fish tacos, for anyone
keeping score). It was loud and raucous and I had trouble hearing. But that,
too, is another story.
Saturday
was her graduation ceremony. We drove into the city where it was held and
discovered said city was simultaneously holding a 5K, 10K, and a marathon. Traffic was brutal.
Police would not let us in to the arena, so we had to find street parking a
half-mile away. And I had to trudge with Patch and the Mrs. in my suit in 80+
degree weather. Ugh. But the ceremony, while lengthy, was quite touching. The
keynote speaker was retired Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan. While not a
fan, he gave a personable, rousing speech. And when I saw Little One go up on
stage to receive her diploma, my eyes watered and I felt a huge lump in my throat.
After that
we went to brunch at a French bistro. Everyone from the prior night attended,
as well as her boyfriend’s mother, sister, and grandparents. There I had a
burger that was quite delicious as only the French can make it. An interminable
round of photos at the back of the bistro followed, then an hour’s reprieve at
home, where I changed out of my grungy suit and got into shorts and a Hawaiian
shirt. In the evening we visited Little One’s roommate and her family, who flew
in from Vermont and rented an Airbnb in a Dallas suburb. I had another burger
as we all ate around the pool until it got dark and a foraging opossum chased
us all inside. We left around 10 pm and fell asleep exhausted once home.
Next
Friday, the 22nd, was Patch’s high school graduation ceremony. I took a PTO day
and lifted some weights and went for a walk, before helping to tidy up the
house and hang up Happy Graduation decorations. Little One and her boyfriend
came over in the afternoon and we all carpooled to the Dallas Cowboys practice
facility where the ceremony was being held. We got pictures of Patch on the
jumbotron as she accepted her diploma. I held it together pretty much, until the very
end when all the graduates threw their caps into the air. Then it hit me. After
sixteen years, I will no longer have a child in a nearby school. In August
Patch will be going to college 1,500 miles away.
We went to
a favorite local hangout to celebrate with drinks and dinner. In addition to the
Hopper family we had Little One’s boyfriend, Little One’s roommate, and Patch’s
best friend from high school in attendance. We ate, drank, and were merry. I
had a spicy shrimp and pasta dish. Afterwards we drove to Handel’s for some top-notch
ice cream cones, then returned home to relax and refresh for the long holiday
weekend.
The wife gifted
the girls with some hand-me-down sentimental jewelry, as well as supplementary baubles
from Tiffany. I wrote a heartfelt paragraph in each of the goofy cards I got
them. The wife wrote a lengthy epistle in one of their cards that could’ve
began with, “Call me Ishmael.”
This past week Little One moved home from her college apartment, so now I have
piles and piles of clothes, toiletries, and small pieces of furniture laying
about. Oh, in addition to Sweet Potato, her seven-month old orange tabby cat.
Charlie is stressing out adjusting to that. She’s planning on moving out into
another apartment with her college roommate before she starts her teaching gig
in seven short weeks.
Patch and
I have been driving several times a week. Her driver’s test is scheduled for
mid-June. Two days ago we started parallel parking. She got it down by the
fourth attempt, but still needs a lot of practice to fine-tune it. So I have that
drama to look forward to in three weeks.
All drama
that I will miss as summer looms, and with it, the end of summer and the girls
beginning their life journeys outside my home.
