Graduation is over. Around here graduation really is celebrated as a rite of passage. We went to the party of our neighbor's grandson. He and Grace have known each other since they were in third grade. He used to mow our lawn for us when we were on vacation; we once brought back a shark's tooth for him as a souvenir.  Grace used to ride to school with him and a couple of other guys (chivalry was completely dead-- they wouldn't even get out of the car but would make Grace clambour over them, French horn and all, into the back seat). He was in band with our kids. We used to sit near his parents at his basketball and football games. When we left his party, I observed that it is a wonderful thing to watch and be a part of someone else's growing up, and I feel so privileged to have lived here long enough that I can say I have done that.

 

Then as we hosted our own party for Grace I found myself feeling completely humbled by the presence of so many people who have shaped the person she has become. Yes, people congratulated us and told us what a great kid she is, but we couldn't have done it alone and though we beamed with pride through the whole week, we recognized that we just played the parents' role in her life and there have been so many other roles that have been played. There was the bumbling cross country coach who arrived at her party all excited about handing her an engraved plaque. He coached her for four years and though she didn't learn much about running under him, she did learn something about making someone besides her parents proud. Her track coach came to the party. There wasn't a lot left to be said between the two of them; Coach Dorhout had coached Grace to within two seconds of qualifying for state track, but it didn't matter that Grace hadn't qualified in the end because they had won each other's respect and there was mutual satisfaction in that. Her math teacher came. Gruff, with unreasonable rules in his classroom, he still really enjoys teaching seniors. He had ended out the semester by showing country music videos and drawing life lessons (something even more important than math!) from them. She won't forget him. People from her work came. People from TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) came. Her best friend's parents, who were also having a graduation party that night, did a quick clean up after their party and drove all the way into town just to see Grace. My parents came from Idaho.  And our church family was all there. Grace didn't have her aunts and uncles and cousins there (they all live too far away), but our church family functions in the same way, because they have helped us raise this beautiful, gracious young woman. She finished high school well, academically, athletically, and most of all, with her integrity in tact. We are all proud of her.

 

Pictures are in the album to the right.