Middle Son has been in New Orleans studying at Loyola University for four years and today he'll don his cap & gown (and bronze Cum Laude rope) and celebrate his graduation. While I've been here for the last month on assignment for ye olde KnockingShitDownCo, we haven't seen much of each other. His end of the year schedule (both work and school), my long hours spent working, Jazzfest and friends visiting from Atlanta combined to keep us from seeing much of each other. I think that's best, not wanting to intrude upon his end of college time. Now the family is arrived: his father (The Husband...) yesterday morning and The Oldest & The Youngest, yesterday evening. Today, Sis Mer from Houston, her husband and two of their three will arrive. We'll find each other at the ceremony, deploying our cell phones as locating devices in the Louisiana Superdome.
Of course, I cried like a baby at yesterday's Baccalaureate, a beautiful mass accompanied by exceptionally beautiful music, honoring the graduates. I doubt many could know how difficult it was to get here for us, how hard how many people worked to make it happen. His first couple of years of college were a time of crisis in our family and without help from extended family and, especially, Loyola University, we wouldn't be here right now. Mostly, I need to thank Middle Son, who worked so hard to not just make it happen, but to make it happen here, even when that meant working full time or close to full time for the last two years to contribute to his living and learning expenses. I couldn't be prouder of him. He chose the perfect University, and I have to include all of the difficulties that came along with being here during this time. We were lucky in the flood and its prolonged evacuation, losing only a semester of college, but I am quite sure that he wouldn't trade anything for having lived this history. It has all only served to make him, make all of us, love this city more. This is the perfect Mother's Day present. I'll be bustin' with pride and filled to the brim with gratitude today.
Happy Mother's Day, y'all. I know mine is. Peace.
The "good" pictures are in the camera (at least I hope they're "good"). The Youngest still has it (somewhere in the French Quarter - pray for them), but sometimes speed trumps quality, so here's the one I snapped with my cell and emailed to myself. The Youngest has his face all scrunched up but I think y'all can still tell how cute he is. Middle Son was so happy. So was I. It's been such a nice day. Dinner later with extended family at the restaurant where Middle Son has worked for the last two years. The one hit by one-hit-wonder Semisonic, "Closing Time" contained one lyric that I think perfectly describes the bittersweet nature of moments like this: "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." 
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Another Update: I failed to mention one of the coolest things that Loyola did. Obviously, the Superdome is a huge venue and challenging for families, leaving from spread out upper level exits (maybe terrace level is the correct description?), to find their graduates. When the graduates exited on the lower level, a brass band was playing to greet them. The grads were able to call their families and tell them to follow the music, which continued to play for some time as everyone gathered. It was lovely. It was New Orleans. It was perfect.
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