The Graduate....

He finally did it! Ok, so he actually got his diploma in August, but it didn’t really feel ‘official’ until he walked across the stage. He walked Friday night (Dec 12). The girls and I rode over to Starkville with Mike and Diann (Jesse was already over there). We find Jesse and I bring my camera up to take a picture…..and to my extreme dismay….my battery is DEAD AS A HAMMER!! So Diann hands me hers, and I turn it on…..and her battery is dead too! I was SOOO upset. We found a place to sit and got settled and I just started crying. But then I remember that my battery charger was in my camera bag in the truck (I try to condense everything into one bag, and this is what I get). So after Jesse walks across the stage and sits back down, Mike and I head out to the truck. Of course we are on the complete opposite side of the building then where we came in, so we walked (or he walked, I had to jog to keep up). At any rate, we found an outlet right outside the section that we were sitting. I go to sit back down and as I’m walking down the steps I can hear Abbey crying. Apparently the noise had woken her up and she was not happy. Even though they tell you to hold the applause until the end, there are those select few that feel the need to holler. Granted, I certainly felt like yelling for joy when Jesse walked across that stage – but I also have respect for the other thousands of people in the coliseum. So I take her and go back up the steps; Mike gets her; I go back down the steps; and by that time the ceremony is over. Then it takes us FOREVER to walk just a few feet through the crowd to get to Mike and Abbey (and my battery, which I am praying is charged enough to get some pics). Finally some very nice lady lets us go through. We get some pics (below) and head back to Columbus to eat. We had planned on eating in Starkville, but decided it wasn’t the best idea with the number of people that were there that probably had the same idea. We arrive at The Grill about 10PM (and both girls are still awake – imagine that!). We headed home at 11PM, and the girls were passed out before we reached the bypass.