Commencement Day

 Here is the crew: Melinda, Sharon, and Derek. Melinda and Derek, being conveniently located on campus, got to the Belcher Performance Center before the doors opened. They saved a prime spot for Sharon and me.

 It's fairly big, but if you don't get in right as the doors open, you could be standing up in one of the galleries.

 The graduates came in on our side (nice placement, Derek!) and when the line slowed down I performed my best stage whisper, "Jason!" and he looked over right on cue :-)

 This is the picture I already shared, but hey...there's always room for a repeat of favorites. We were outside immediately following commencement, getting a few pictures on the lawn. See that medal? Jason found out just days before that he'd be graduating Cum Laude. I can't tell you how proud I am of this guy!

 The attending family: Derek, Melinda, Jason, Ma, and Sharon. Sharon was my ride over from Tyler. And we also shared the second leg of my flight, from Charlotte, NC to Dallas.

So extremely grateful I could attend.

Afterward, Sharon treated us to a post-commencement celebration at Appleby's. Here's Jason about to bite into his "Cowboy Burger."  He was a little hopped up on joy and relief at being done with college.

Everything went well with my flights. First I stayed overnight at Ardith and Justin's, where they treated me to pizza and the most scrumptious and delectable artichoke dip, ever. Course, it was the first one I've had, but still...

First flight in 32 years so some of the protocols had changed for this old lady. Still, I managed to get through security without any snafus. And once on the plane, I couldn't help but wonder why they put all the first class people in the front. I can only surmise that the airlines don't want any of them to survive in the event of a crash. Everyone KNOWS it's safer in the back. That's where I was; the very last seat on the right. And I'm still here, demonstrating the truth of the above statement.

I had to change planes at Charlotte and met up with Sharon, who was passing through on her way from a business trip in Baltimore. Are we clever, or what? She persuaded the nice man next to her to switch seats with me so we could sit together. Good times!

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