Mortarboards take flight, balloons descend as the members of Chancellor High School Class of 2006 celebrate. Visit the Photo Place

Reflecting on balloons and mortarboards

Mom graduates, too

Date published: 6/13/2006

IGUESS YOU COULD SAY I am finished. Done. Wrapped up the job.

Last Saturday, my youngest child graduated from high school.

Jack wasn't at the top of his class, but he certainly shocked his dad by receiving an academic seal on his advanced studies diploma. Especially since Jack chose to take the last quarter of senior year as vacation.

I've spent much of the time since September not thinking about graduation, figuring that if I ignored it, it would go away.

But it didn't.

Where did those years go? Wasn't I just snuggling him for the first time? My heavens! Who is this man standing in front of me in a cap and gown?

I gotta admit, I thought I would be a blithering idiot on graduation day. After all, first day of school this year I sent him off, closed the front door, sat on the couch and cried. Cried. I didn't even do that on his first day of school.

As I frantically--and fruitlessly--searched the house last week for the cool camera my dad gave me a few years back, I came across some items I had tucked away and forgotten about. There were tons and tons of pictures: pictures of Jack's eighth-grade graduation and his older brother Bobby's high school graduation, old school portraits, his player's card from travel soccer. Each new find set off more waterworks. I realized then that June 10 was going to be a tough one.

So, thanks to Amy Umble having pity on me and lending me one of her cameras, I was going to take pictures of everything that day--from the time he woke up to the time he went to bed.

It started out just fine. I sashayed into his bedroom at the appointed time, pulled out the camera and snap! snap! snap!

"Mom!" Jack said, pulling the blankets over his head. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Eight o'clock," I chirped.

"I asked for 8:15," he said.

I walked away wondering why graduation day would be any different from a regular school-day morning.

By the time my eldest son, Will, arrived with my daughter, Dawn, and the grandchildren, I was in high gear with the camera. Snapping everything.

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Date published: 6/13/2006