I’m in the middle of a vacation. Actually a stay-cation because I’m at home. Mom and Dad left for Fredericksburg last Friday for a week to join in all of the graduation hubbub for their grandson, Will. I’m sure they needed a break from me as well.
I have a list on my computer called “foods mom won’t eat” and I’ve been planning what all I’m going to cook while they are away so that she won’t have to pretend to like it. And so I can get it out of my system. Fried rice is at the top of the list.
I’m so glad that graduations have returned to normal after the past year. RISD did such a great job last year to make it memorable for the 2020 graduates during a pandemic, but a normal on-the-football-field graduation this year is such a sense of normalcy for Rockdale’s 116 graduates.
I graduated in 1982 with 112 of my classmates and we were considered a big class back then. Things haven’t changed too much I see. I honestly don’t remember much about my graduation.
I remember getting my cap and gown. I remember not getting a high school ring because I knew I’d never wear it, thus saving my parents about $300. I couldn’t stand jewelry on me even back then and still can’t to this day. I remember a party with my friends and getting gifts.
One of the gifts I got was a towel-like thing that I knew I would never use. It was Royal Blue and you put it around your waist after a shower and I think it closed with Velcro. The other day Mom brought the same one into my bedroom, saying she thought it was mine. Unused for nearly 40 years, and even moved from one house to another 21 years ago.
This year my friend, Antoinette (Toni) Martinez and the “Moms of the Class of 2021” made a page on Facebook that was unique to me. The page was for adopting seniors and each senior made a wish list. I adopted Lilliana Lara, daughter of Angi and Rafa Laura, and guess what was on her list? Takis. I laughed when I saw it. So now she can buy plenty of them. Angi says she is a very low maintenance child and that’s all she ever asks for.
The older I get the younger these graduates look. I had to go take a photo at the high school when I first moved back here and when I saw the kids I thought I was in the wrong school. I now know why my mom sat on my dorm room bed and cried when I went off to college while my brothers, my dad and I unloaded my stuff from the van. They are just babies.
The photo I was taking was of the welding students. How cool is that program when high school graduates are certified welders and can get a welding job as soon as they are out of high school? That was not around in my day. We should come up with more programs like that for the non-college bound students.
One of our most popular special sections is in today’s paper, our Graduation Tab. Photos of all the graduates from Rockdale, Milano and Thorndale and including well wishes from moms and dads, grannies and grandpas and local businesses who support them. This one is a keeper. Much bigger and better than last year thanks to Mary Lou Loehr taking care of all the details. Be sure to look for it.
Congratulations to all of the graduates. This is an exciting time because your lives are just beginning.
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