Another High School Graduate

"A little over a week ago, this happened. The big moment that marks the end of a huge chapter of our kid's lives. After spending thirteen years going to school, surviving Kindergarten thru 12th grade, the moments comes when they walk across the stage (or the grass, if you're like our school) and get their high school diploma. It's an awesome moment for our seniors. And even though it's a hard moment for us parents, to realize that our kids have gone and grown up and are entering adulthood, it's also an amazing moment, and a proud moment for us".

And yes, I copied that from the blog post I did sharing Alyssa's high school graduation three years ago - because the words are still perfect and sum up the feelings about that big night. Actually, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm coping and pasting quite a bit from Alyssa's graduation post, and just adding a few things, and switching out some facts/names as needed. Is that cheating? Lol.

Our graduation ceremony is held on the football field, with all of the seniors, teachers, faculty, and the band on the field. Depending what side of the field your senior is sitting on determines which set of bleachers you sit in. Home or visitors. I was so happy when Sarah came home from practice that morning and told me she was on the home side. When Alyssa graduated, she was on the visitor side, and it was much harder to hear over there.

Just like almost every other year, at graduation time, it was super windy out. Having been thru this before, I suggested to Sarah and her friend that got ready at our house, that they pin their caps on. But they said there were fine. They weren't, but I'm not even sure pins would have helped. There were hats and cords flying everywhere. Everyone spend a good portion of the ceremony holding their caps on their heads. Lol.

We heard a few speeches, all of which I thought were really well written and spoken. Then they got to what everyone was waiting for. The distributing of the diplomas. They had tables set up on both sides of the field, so that students could feed in from both sides at once. 

Funny-not-funny moment from the ceremony. Right after I snapped the photo of Sarah at the podium, and her name was called - my camera froze up and I realized my memory card was full. The worst possible moment, as my girl was receiving her diploma and I wasn't able to capture it. I did a "are you freaking kidding me right now", and rummaged in my purse to get another memory card swapped out.

My sister-in-law, sitting next to me, yelled out "SARAH! STOP!!!". She did, and I was able to snap the photo above. Whew. Kicking myself for missing part of the big moment, but glad I got the pics I did. And Alyssa actually captured Sarah's big moment on a Snapchat video, so I also have that, where we can hear them announcing her name. 

So there she is, diploma in hand. Well, the diploma folder in hand. I'm not sure if all schools do this, but they had to go into the office this week to pick up the real diploma. Which makes sense to me, since you really don't want to risk losing that important piece of paper in the craziness that happens after the ceremony.

After all of the diplomas were handed out, the graduates all walked out and spread themselves out around the edge of the football field (actually, the track around it). They were officially announced as the graduating class of 2017, and proceeded to throw their caps in the air. If the wind hadn't blown them off already!

And want to hear something weird? I didn't cry, or even tear up. And I ALWAYS tear up at stuff like this. Usually proud tears. But then again, I didn't tear up or cry at Alyssa's graduation either, so it didn't surprise me. Maybe it was the large venue, or the fact that it all went by so quickly. Or maybe I had just prepared myself so well for this moment, that I was able to just take it all in without it getting the best of me.

Once we all got out to the field, we made sure to get some family photos, before tracking down her friends for photos. It's not too noticeable in some of these photos, but it was starting to get dark. The stadium lights came on, which can be a challenge to work with. My external flash went from working, to not working, to working again. Luckily, with the magic of Photoshop, I was able to do my thing with most of the photos we took.

I just love my girls! It's crazy to think that I now have two college students. Alyssa is headed into her last semester in the fall, and Sarah will be starting her first semester of college in the fall. Alyssa will be turning 21 in a few months, and Sarah turns 18 in a few weeks. Again, that's just crazy to me! 

We were super bummed that my parents ended up across the country, and had to miss Sarah's graduation. They were on a cruise that was planned by someone else, and didn't realize the scheduling conflict. But we were happy that both my brother, and his wife, were able to come. We didn't have enough tickets for Alyssa's graduation, so only my brother got to come to her big day.

Alyssa's dad and her grandpa were also able to come. Ken and his family have always been super supportive of Sarah, and she's truly a part of their family. While Joe is Alyssa's stepdad, we always say that Sarah lucked out and got a stepdad too - even though he's not technically a stepdad to her. 

Me and my girl. We missed getting a photo together right after the ceremony, so we got one at the very end of the night, when we were one of the last ones left on the field. I can't even put into words how proud I am of this amazing girl of mine. She's a mini-me, who is taller than me. She's a smart girl, and can do awesome things when she puts her mind to it. I can't wait to see what she accomplishes next. Love you baby girl!

I have many more photos I would love to share from that night. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've probably already seen them. One way or another, they will all be appearing here on the blog sometime soon, as I'm excited to get them all scrapped and in her school album.

Comments

[mandyb]

time is flying for sure...i still remember your kids being little in layouts...congrats to Sarah......xx

[Deneen]

I remember the first time I met Sarah she was such a little thing and now she's taller than me too LOL. So proud of her and all she has and will accomplish in the future too!

[Cynthia Baldwin]

Congrats to Sarah - and your whole family!
My son also graduated high school a couple of weeks ago - an exciting time, indeed!