Four Years Ago

May marks my 4th anniversary as well as my brother's 4th anniversary at college. In other words, it marks his graduation. After 4 long years of studying and waking up really early and experiencing the joys of the seasons and the lengths of winter, he graduated! And we were there to celebrate.

It began with us all traveling up at various times. Amanda went up early to go the Preakness and celebrate being done with finals. Mom left the Friday before to see my cousin graduate and to be there for my other cousin's prom. Dad left on Monday and I arrived Tuesday night after work. Anyway my parents picked me up around 9 and we went to our hotel on campus. It was gorgeous, since it's so old, but its age also affected the room size. It was small and only offered 1 king bed and a pullout loveseat bed. My parents had to book the room back when Billy entered college and this is what we had. This meant my parents and I slept in 1 bed with Amanda getting the couch. And we all had the snoring and talking to deal with coming from mis padres. I was excited about returning to my own bed after the first night.

Wednesday was my first day there and the weather was nice. We walked around in shorts and helped Billy transfer all his belongings into his jeep. We weren't allowed in his room so he had to push it all the way on a modified clothes hanger cart. It was amusing to watch. We then went to the local club on campus that only seniors are allowed to go to. I didn't get carded in part because I had no idea that that was why Amanda gave her ID. I just bypassed the whole system following my parents. I either looked too young for anyone to consider giving me alcohol or I looked over 21. I hope it was latter.

Then Thursday came in its rainy glory, which was a trend that lasted the rest of the weekend. Amanda, my mom and I went to a bridal coffee that was thrown by the college. It was fun and you could see where the other brides-to-be were going after they got married. We sadly had to leave early to go to Billy's award ceremony. His debate skills and confidence paid off and he received an award for leadership in his club. Some people got pewter plates and some got books, but he received a card which contained a $200 to be spent at the campus book store. He got some books but he also got a Wii. Pretty cool bookstore. We also purchased rain ponchos since it looked like we would be needing them. Then we went to one of Billy's friend's family homes. He lived only 25 minutes away from campus, but it was a pretty solitary drive around the mountains. The original plan had been to go to a park and BBQ it up, but due to a flash flood advisory and the generous offer of his friend's parents, we hung out at their house. One of the guys had made a slide show of their four years together and all the trips and things they had done. It was pretty neat. We drove home and prepared for more graduation festivities the next day.

I was praying that the rain would not cancel the graduation activities as I had never seen a parade before and this would be my last chance to see one with my brother in it. Apparently he had not been in the parade that my parents had seen on Tuesday (although they thought he was) so this would be the last parade with him for all of us as well. We got there in our sun dresses and jackets and brought our ponchos. We had to climb up metal bleachers to get to some seats and when we stood for the playing of the National Anthem, the bleacher swayed under us. It reminded me of the good times in college cheering for my football team and moving as well. This time, however, Amanda and I thought we would fall, so not so fun. We saw them come onto the field and then they separated from the rest of the class, since they were seniors. It was pretty cool to watch them as they marched in unison on such a grand scale. Afterwards we tried to find Billy. We screamed his name and shouted and spoke to him on the phone. The kid we were yelling at was not him, however, so we had to continue our search. We did find and got some pictures with him and then went to his dorm room. We were grateful to get out of the wind as the temperature had dropped while we were outside and the rain had continued.

Since he still had stuff to do, we took the opportunity to go shopping. See, Amanda and I had been worried about getting sun burned for the wedding and bought these pretty, floppy hats to wear. However, with a high of 54 degrees, wind and rain, sun dresses were not appropriate dress. We bought camis and some tights to help layer.  Plain, black  tights or so we thought. When we put them on, however, we found that they were star patterned tights. Quite attractive, but fortunately no one would really be able to see. We made it back and got dressed into our formal attire for the reception and dinner. Walking in the rain in heels and a dress in the cold and up hills - not ideal. But we made it inside and got to celebrate. The guest speaker did a great job and it is fun to be dressed up.

The big day had arrived for him and for us and luckily the rain wasn't so strong as to cancel the ceremony. Now we were still cold but the rain was only a light rain. Billy had a great seat at the end of the second row by the cameras. He made it on the jumbotron frequently which helped because we knew it was him. We saw him graduate and take his oath and then the hat toss came. I loved that I was able to see him throw his and see how excited he was. We then walked to his dorm area to take pictures before he changed. Then it was time for a private ceremony with a professor and one of his good friends, who was in the wedding. The professor did a good job making personal comments about the two of them. Then he was done - no more to do lists, no more people who needed to see him. Just like that it was over and he was leaving. We drove off in separate cars to go back to his friend's house for a graduation party and to celebrate their accomplishments. They are such a good group of friends and it was fun to watch them interact together.

I left the next day with a carry-on filled with glassware. The formal event makes commemorative toast glasses that are yours to take and we were taking the empty wine bottles back as well which had the logo and the event name on them. The security guy asked if I had the whole kitchen sink in my suitcase and he had to sent it through a second time, but I made it. It was heavy to lift up into the overhead, but it worked out and didn't break. I made it home and got to see Sean.

Next thing to prepare for: Billy's wedding. So many life events in one month!