GRADUATION

What a whirlwind this last month has been! Douggie’s graduation was a wild success, and it’s hard to believe that all that hard work and anticipation led up to a moment that was over with the blink of an eye.  We will never be able to express what it meant to have the support we had, the friends, the family, the encouragers along the way. I’m so proud of him for such an amazing accomplishment.

The weekend kicked off with an exciting surprise, Cole and Amanda made the trip all the way from Miami to celebrate with us on this special day.  Doug thought we were posing for a picture, but his Mom was recording the surprise.

After everyone was done swimming, we went home for what should have been a night of resting up to prepare for the big day, but instead the boys spent the evening doing this:

Saturday was a wonderful day full of celebration and laughter.  We had breakfast at the hotel where our family was staying and then we went to commencement.  What an exciting moment this was for us!!

You may notice that in some of these photos I am wearing a stole much like the one Douglas is wearing.  Why you might ask? Well, because my husband likes to make me cry. Ok, ok, that’s not the reason. The real reason is because of the tradition of the “Stole of Gratitude.” The story (according to the legend) goes something like this… “After the ceremony, the new graduate presents the stole to someone who provided extraordinary help or support, who has helped with wisdom, words of support, or with financial assistance. Immediately after graduation, the graduate may take the stole from around his/her neck and place it around the neck of the recipient.”  This tradition was new to me, but receiving such a precious gift from Douglas made my heart burst. This day was not about me, it was about him, but it is such an amazingly peacefully knowledge to know that my marriage is a true partnership, and as he said to me that day, we share not only the bad times, but also the good.

Saturday afternoon between graduation and the party, everyone gathered at our house for more good times.

The party was a wild success, the food was great and the venue was just perfect.

If you participated in sending a video to me ahead of time, I surprised Doug with a slide show presentation at the party and it meant so much to him to see his friends and family from afar congratulating him.

As everyone parted their separate ways for home, our lives slowly began to slow down and resume back to normal.  Finals have finally ended and after we enjoy some down time for the holiday, The Hubs will start vigorously job searching.

Thank you again, to all those who came from near and far, to celebrate this happy and momentous occasion in our lives.