Graduation for Happy J

Big doings around here. J graduated from college.

So happy.

So relieved. Not that there was any doubt about him graduating, but over the last couple years there was much talk about changing majors, changing career paths, changing this, changing that...changing, changing, changing.

In college land, changing equals dollars. Many, many more dollars.

That is not a good thing.

After going through two high school graduations, a college graduation was cake.

Notice my super high tech method of removing wrinkles.

I'm calling this photo, "The Flying Nun Graduates".

Haha. But only if you remember "The Flying Nun".

After letting the gown fly for a while, the wrinkles were still there. 

Blech. Now I have to iron the thing. Upstairs I go, dragging out the ironing board and heating the iron. Wrestling with slippery, soft, nylon-y material.

After seeing how J so very casually threw it into the back of the car, I am so glad I took such care while ironing to make sure every wrinkle was removed.

Every. Wrinkle.

Note to parents of future male graduates: 

Red ties are the key. They stand out amidst the sea of black gowns. Not many guys wear red ties making your son easy to find.

Waiting.

Waiting.

More waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was hot in the lobby area. There were a billion people crammed in, like cattle in a chute, waiting for security to open the doors to the venue.

Poor K was getting nauseous from the heat. And became slightly claustrophobic. She got very pale and I thought we were going to see her drop. I quickly grabbed a mint from my purse and gave her something to fan herself with, trying to ease some of the nausea. Just when I thought we were going to have to leave, they opened the doors and we started to move into the cool, spacious venue.

Whew. That was a close one.

J had some difficulty finding us from the floor. He kept looking to the left of us, towards an area a few sections away from us. We were jumping up and down, waving our arms and shouting his name. He would look over every now and then but could not seem to find us.

Finally....finally....he found us.

Happy J. 

Always smiling. 

Even as a young boy, he always had a smile on his face. The Man and I were remembering when he was a wee little guy. Each morning, we would go into his room to get him and he would be smiling before he even woke up.

The best part about J?

Even when he gets mad, he cannot stay mad. He will be smiling at you within a few minutes because he just cannot hold a grudge.

That's a good thing. More people should be like this.

Grandma was oh-so-very proud of J. She kept looking at him, getting a bit weepy. You can see the emotion as she was looking up at him. 

If she was thinking the same thoughts I was, she was picturing him as a five year old, getting ready to go off to school for the first time.

Cell phones everywhere. Several iPads. 

All focused on the grads.

What did we do before all this technology?

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Please do not be hating on the photo quality. It was very dark in the arena and I had to shoot at a slow, slow speed with a high ISO to get these shots.

I am going to go with the adage, "A bad shot is better than no shot."

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.