A couple of weeks back, June 3rd, 2008, Judy and Elroy past that most magical of mileposts.....high school graduation. Graduation ceremonies were held at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC (see picture at left). 
Jane's brother (we'll call him Mr. Spacely) came down to witness the spectacle as the WJHS class of 2008 filed into the Hall, which was pretty cool to see and at the end toss all their hats into the air. The picture below is before the hat toss, I had a difficult time getting pictures indoors when the lights are low. The boys wore green robes and the girls, white. If you look carefully you can see Judy in the picture below; Elroy was too far away to get a picture. The valedictorian gave a nice speech...something to do with a Dr. Seuss book 
and life lessons, although I confess three weeks later I've forgotten exactly what she said. The invited speaker was a WJHS alum, a documentary film maker, and recently diagnosed with cancer. His message to the graduates to pursue their dreams really hit home with me and many of the other parents.....whether it registered with the graduates I'm not so sure. Anyway, as I'm writing this, between June 23rd and 30th, Judy and Elroy have turned 18 years old as well. Over this summer they're working at their first real jobs, will be going to college later in August, and will start participating in some of life's "adult" activities (I mean voting, of course). They still have a lot to learn and Jane and I try to pass on all the accumulated lessons of our own lives, but probably to no avail. I've always felt that at each big developmental step in their lives our parental concerns never fade.....they just change and this is no different. In about two months they'll be living away from home for the first time and I'm going to really miss them around the house. Jane and I may stop cleaning the house once their gone so it will feel like they haven't left.
Jane's brother (we'll call him Mr. Spacely) came down to witness the spectacle as the WJHS class of 2008 filed into the Hall, which was pretty cool to see and at the end toss all their hats into the air. The picture below is before the hat toss, I had a difficult time getting pictures indoors when the lights are low. The boys wore green robes and the girls, white. If you look carefully you can see Judy in the picture below; Elroy was too far away to get a picture. The valedictorian gave a nice speech...something to do with a Dr. Seuss book 
and life lessons, although I confess three weeks later I've forgotten exactly what she said. The invited speaker was a WJHS alum, a documentary film maker, and recently diagnosed with cancer. His message to the graduates to pursue their dreams really hit home with me and many of the other parents.....whether it registered with the graduates I'm not so sure. Anyway, as I'm writing this, between June 23rd and 30th, Judy and Elroy have turned 18 years old as well. Over this summer they're working at their first real jobs, will be going to college later in August, and will start participating in some of life's "adult" activities (I mean voting, of course). They still have a lot to learn and Jane and I try to pass on all the accumulated lessons of our own lives, but probably to no avail. I've always felt that at each big developmental step in their lives our parental concerns never fade.....they just change and this is no different. In about two months they'll be living away from home for the first time and I'm going to really miss them around the house. Jane and I may stop cleaning the house once their gone so it will feel like they haven't left. 
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