The universe puts us into places where we can learn. They are never easy places, but they are right. Wherever we are is the right place and the right time. The pain that sometimes comes is part of the process of constantly being born.
Delenn — Babylon 5
It truly seems like it was yesterday that we were bundling you off to Kindergarten for your first day of school and here you are graduating from high school eighteen years later.
To say it’s been a challenging and occasionally difficult journey is a grand understatement the British could truly be proud of! And with all we’ve experienced at the end of this journey, I couldn’t bear to put out the sign until coming back to the house after the stormy trip to Clayton for fear of jinxing it.
But at the end of the day, you were in the right place to learn what you needed to learn though I would suggest that process never truly ends…we should always be in a position to learn something new each day.
So please forgive your old mushball of a father his tears upon seeing you striding down the hill from the concession stand and onto the field at The Nest with confidence and purpose and the occasional hint of a smile we’ve not seen very often, particularly in the recent year of the pandemic and hard push to finally make it over the line to graduation.
Those were the first tears…they sure as hell weren’t the last ones!
The next set came when your part of the graduating class had filed into the seats on the field and the colours were presented with the national anthem. No matter the setting, there is nothing quite like that song that reminds us of the struggle our country faced in the beginning and the sacrifices required of all of us to preserve, protect, and defend our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Let’s not forget when your row is finally allowed to march to the side of the stage and seeing you ascend the steps to wait your turn for your name being called. Yep…more tears then as I remember my turn at a similar location at the Ocean Centre. That 15 seconds from the time I was next to be called to the time they called my name was perhaps the longest 15 seconds in my entire life. I’m sure it was for you as well.
And yes, I’m sure you were thinking of us rather as you would Judas Iscariot as we all yelled out “Nick, we love you!” as you made your way to Dr Jordan but you know what? We enjoyed every second of that small act of rebellion and you’ll never forget that those of us who love you will never hesitate to say so in front of the whole world.
But those were nothing compared to the moment Dr Jordan pronounced your class had officially graduated from Enloe High School and the sun came out from behind the stubbornly overcast and drizzly clouds right at that instant.
I don’t care who saw me breaking down in many tears of joy at the sight of the sun at that moment in time.
I leaned over to my mother and gave her a hug because she was on the same page of music…what a gift from all of your grandfathers who never lived to see this day on Earth but surely had the best seat in the house during the ceremony. Thank you guys…you know how to really knock it out of the park and indeed our plane of existence!
But then there was the march back off the field toward the concession stand.
Yep, couldn’t help but a few last tears at that. After all, you were leaving with your head held high and a bounce in your step forever changed from who you were when you came down that hill and onto the field.
A graduate of Enloe High School…officially and for real!
Congratulations and enjoy this achievement to the fullest for your new journey toward the future begins at Wake Tech this fall. 🙂
