2022 Graduates — It Is That Time Of The Year

I haven’t attended any graduations this year and I have been invited to several graduation parties. I attended one, I could not miss it! My oldest son’s youngest daughter graduated from high school and was just on the dean’s list at the college she will attend after graduation! Wow!

It is so great that some high school graduates can be receiving a 2-year college degree at the same time they graduate from high school. I have known two now. One was my niece! Imagine the cost savings for the student and/or parents!

I asked my smart 16-year-old grandson if he would be taking advantage of those cost savings and he surprised me by saying, that no, he probably wouldn’t be taking college courses as he is planning to go to seminary!

Two of my nieces graduated from college this year. One with a BSN as she wants to be a nurse and one with a Masters’s degree in Social Work. I hope they have a party. Haven’t heard anything yet, or maybe I wasn’t invited!

Over the years, I have been to many graduations and have missed many also. I believe that the students that had it the toughest though are those students who made it to graduation, despite the pandemic! It has been a rough few years.

My daughter that graduated with her RN a few years ago didn’t have a party and graduation was online. I still feel bad about that and was hoping to make up for that this summer, however, our covid numbers are continuing to go up again. So, probably not this year at least yet this year!

I was getting tired of all of the graduations before the pandemic and now I am sorry for feeling that way. I want them all back! The pre-K graduation, the Kindergarten graduation, the 5th-grade graduation, the 8th-grade graduation, the vocational-technical, the 2-year college program graduation, and all of the rest!

I have a few grandchildren left to go through it all, but they are far enough away that I may not get that invite. Then the great-grandchildren have begun some of the early graduations. They are all so cute at graduation with caps and gowns!

Then there are times we talk about graduation as we are moving onto a new and exciting stage such as getting married, having your first child, or becoming an empty nester. These moments indicate the end of something and the beginning of something in the same way as any other graduation experience.

Sometimes they come with a large celebration and other times not so much. As an empty nester, I wasn’t so happy about that, even though I felt like I did my job the way I was meant to do it! Our children each left shortly after graduation.

We ended our marriage not too long after being empty nesters. Sometimes that happens too. So, I see the ex at occasional graduations and I saw him at the one last weekend. The first thing I did was tell our son how old his dad is looking and he responded, “Did you see him walk?”

We are getting old! He is just a couple of years older. So, I said that more as a joke. I always think everyone around my age looks old compared to me. I also saw my ex-mother-in-law, his bonus mom, and my ex-brother-in-law. I loved seeing everyone. Good for my boys to catch up with family.

My daughter didn’t make the graduation, as one of her children had covid. Out of 8 people in their household, he was the only one sick. It was almost like he took the hit for the family. Fever, throw up, really sick, etc. They kept testing and he was the only positive test.

Except for a couple of possible parties, I think I am at the end of graduations for the year! Congratulations to All 2022 Graduates!🎉

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First published on Medium