Graduation Day

Graduation Day

         “What time is it?” Dan asked the question and then immediately looked at his watch.

         He really didn’t need his wife Linda to answer. It was just nervous energy motivating his actions; his vocal facilities had just taken their turn at responding. He had already been to the bathroom twice in the last thirty minutes. Unfortunately, it was about time for those functions to kick in again. His eyes flitted here and there, not focusing on any one thing for more than a nana-second.

         “This is ridiculous!” he thought to himself. “I can’t believe that I’m acting this way!”

         “Stand still Dan! Let me fix your collar.” Linda fidgeted with Dan’s tie and collar.

         She knew that no one would ever notice if it wasn’t just perfect. Only a little of the collar and tie could be seen anyway. The graduation robes covered all but a triangular area immediately below the Adam’s apple. She finished fussing with his collar, kissed him on the cheek and gathered the boys.

         ”We’ve got to go, now, hon. If we are going to get a decent seat.” She smiled at her nervous husband and added softly, “Play nice with the other students, and enjoy the moment.”

         Linda pulled his six-foot frame down to her five-feet-two-inch level and kissed him quickly. She then gathered Noel and Chad and negotiated their way toward their seats in the packed auditorium. Dan looked around at the other graduates. Out of the class of 227 all but a small handful were younger than he was. He did not consider himself as being old at thirty-five — not really. However, surrounded by this group of young men and women, he felt older than usual. Standing there with sweat running down his back, which was only natural since he had a long sleeve dress shirt and tie on under the black robe, he mused that he kids graduating with him were likely much more comfortable than he was. He had watched them don their robes wearing shorts, tee-shirts, and flip flops as their base apparel. He, on the other hand, had insisted on dress pants, long sleeve dress shirt, and an all too constricting tie.

         Dan was from the old school. In fact, his school predated Dan himself. He was a throwback to a time when movies were called cinemas and men and women still dressed up in suits when they flew on airplanes. In fact, he would have been comfortable in a time when people still took the train across country. Because of this fact, he was willing to be a bit more uncomfortable standing in his robed suit and tie.

         He considered it a strange mix, him being included among the group of graduates--a plain little box in a sack of colorful marbles. He was the image of a conservative establishment that was passing away. The kids around him were the forerunners of a new age of technology and knowledge that had no time for naiveté or social graces. Yet, somehow he had managed to achieve academically what they had achieved. He would receive the same padded cardboard covered case with a fake diploma, to be redeemed for the authentic one at a later time. He would enter into the same world of opportunity as they would.

         He found his place in line, behind “Billings” and in front of “Butler,” and absently marched in alphabetical union with the rest of the alphabet to his seat. There he sat through an hour and a half of preamble and addresses, magnified by the fact he was quietly roasting in a robed sauna. He forced himself to endure the moment. He had paid the price and, by God, he was going to savor this final academic exercise.

         He looked around the auditorium for familiar faces. Off to the left, he picked out Linda and his two boys Noel and Chad. He smiled at them; he doubted they could see him well. They were sitting up there in their “Sunday-go-to-meeting” best. He chuckled as he thought to himself that they surely were more comfortable than he was in his fine cloaked attire. He was totally unaware of who was speaking at that moment or what they were saying. It was something about “a new day” and “challenges of new horizons.” His eyes continued to search the auditorium. He sent out fifty announcements, which he considered to be a modest number. To date he had received a graduation card from his brother, sister, and Linda’s parents; and that was all.

         He concluded that he would be experiencing this moment by himself, with only Linda and the boys of course. He struggled for eight years to get to this very moment. He felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck to be absorbed by his collar. Every dollar spent for his education he earned and paid himself. He didn’t have the benefit of scholarships or grants. His mother and father hadn’t helped him and could not have helped financially even if they had wanted to. He began this collegiate journey the year that Noel was born. Chad thought every kid’s daddy went to school at nights. He missed important times in their lives. He missed too many bedtime baths and hugs before sleep. The boys were denied vacations at Disney World and brand new bicycles because finances were tight. Dan tried to compensate by giving extra portions of love and affection in the moments he spent with them. Those moments were never enough; they were always interrupted with obligations to work and school.

         Dan sat in the midst of the graduating class and was proud of what he accomplished, what the four of them had accomplished. His heart yearned to share great accomplishment with other family, relations, and friends. His eyes turned again to the packed auditorium and searched the crowd. He looked forward to sharing this moment with a small but meaningful gathering of friends and relatives. He thought perhaps they would take some pictures and offer a few words of praise. But, as he continued to look around, he could see no one except Linda and the boys. Both he and Linda had healthy, living relatives and friends who could travel to this little ceremony.

         “Where were they?” he wondered.

          His heart silently whispered to his mind that he would not be seeing them on this day. Tears swelled into his eyes. He repressed them. He would not let tears spoil this special moment. However, he thought of how proud Linda would be if she could share this with someone else. She also had paid the price. In a way, this was her graduation too. She deserved the hugs and congratulations for a job well done from someone other than himself. He suddenly loved her more than ever. Those pesky tears returned.

         “Darla Anne Billings,” he heard a distant voice announce. The young lady sitting next to him stood and made her way down the aisle, amid whoops and whistles from some cheering gallery in a remote reach of the auditorium.

         “It’s time. I’m next,” he thought.

         On cue he heard his name, -- “Danny Clark Bolton.” He rose to his feet and made his way to the stage, where Darla Anne Billings was leaving on the other side. He heard a distant trio clap and a faint, “Daddy!”

         His eyes blurred. “There must be something in the air,” he reconciled to himself as he again suppressed the tears. He shook someone’s hand. Someone gave him something and he followed Darla Anne Billings out of the auditorium.

         Outside he stood alone. He opened the padded folder. Inside he found a sheet of vellum paper that said, “Your diploma will be mailed to you; or you may pick it up at the registrar's office during office hours.”

         He smiled and thought, “This isn’t quite what I had worked for. I guess there’s one more stop before the sheepskin is in my hand.”

         He looked up and around the gathering crowd for a familiar face. The size of the gathering was growing around him, and he was conscious of the fact that he was standing among families and friends smiling and laughing in noisy congratulations. Yet, he was alone. Then he saw them through the crowd. Linda and the boys were coming. As he stood in the reception area outside of the auditorium, he was greeted by two little boys and a smiling wife.

         Chad ran up to Dan and thrust a rolled piece of green construction paper with a strand of yarn tied around it in a bow. “Me and Noel made this for you, Daddy!”

         The two little boys threw their arms around his legs. He stroked their head and gathered Linda in an embrace. The four of them united as a family in the midst of the crowd. Dan then smiled at the little homemade diploma, as he examined it. He unrolled it and read the message, “To our daddy. The smartest man we know.” A solitary tear escaped his eye.

         No matter what trials would come into his life or barriers he would have to hurdle, he realized that the strength of their arms around him would always get him through to the other side. He graduated tonight. Dan wanted a crowd to share this moment with him. However, he realized all he really needed were the ones who embraced him at that moment. He had earned more than a degree; they all had. They gained a shared treasure of love. They would never again be alone. This moment would always be there. He allowed a tear to track down his cheek as he thought, “I may not be the smartest daddy in the world; but I am surely the richest."