… and capturing the milestone moments.
By Gloria Raskin
From the first strains of the graduation march, “Land of Hope and Glory,” my eyes started to tear. The audience, under a beautiful white tent that allowed whatever few breezes around to enter, craned their necks to see the class of 2017, all 330 graduates enter the tent.
Graduation programs with the familiar H and G, in school colors, were used as fans.
All we could see were the blue hats they wore but that was enough for the audience who clapped wildly. They were graduating… this was actually happening!
As they filed in and took their seats, cameras and IPhones clicking, family and friends, beaming with pride, managed, sometimes easily, sometimes with a little ingenuity, to get a picture of their graduate.
The high school band continued the song until the very last graduate was seated, and then a thunderous roar of clapping from all the relatives, friends, and graduates themselves.
The graduation continued, as all graduations do with speeches from Board of Education officials and the speeches from the 10 young women (Girl Power!) selected as Valedictorians of the class of 2017. Finally the time came for the graduates to go on stage and receive their diplomas, or a stand-in until they received the actual diploma, and we waited eagerly for our graduate.
The moment came when her name was called, and went by too quickly and we tried to make as much noise as we could but we were drowned out by everyone else’s clapping , hooting and whistling.
Too soon we were walking outside the tent to even more photos and kisses and hugs every place one looked. Flowers were presented to graduates from their families.
Photos were taken and families hugged their graduate hard, knowing how momentous and fleeting this day was in their lifetime, and ours. Maybe this was so special to me as this was our first graduation for one of our grandchildren.
Graduations have always been important to me as we proudly watched our daughters graduate from high school and then college but this day was even more so because it was our oldest grandchild (one of four), and I look forward to future moments every bit as beautiful as this one.
Gloria Raskin is a retired school teacher who enjoys freelance writing, mostly about her family. She has published more than 50 essays in over 25 different publications.