Graduation parties?

We never had them. My niece asked me to write about our parties, but, alas, they were non-existent. Now, my brothers may have benefited from them, but I didn't, and I don't think my sister did.


It was cultural shock when we moved out here and every high-school graduate was given a big party. I mean every, single one. So, we went to all these parties -- church kids who earned their high school diplomas -- and we gave our requisite gifts -- not begrudged.


Then it was my children's turn. Phil was 13 when he graduated from high school. What kind of party to do give to a 13-year-old. We gave him two. One for his friends, one for ours. The one for his friends was a pizza party at a local pizzeria. Then the one at the house was for the church folks, and we had a wonderful cake made especially for him. It (the cake) looked like a stack of books. It was held in our home, and the day was a nice day.


Then we had Becky's party. It was outdoors, and again, it was mostly church people, and a few neighbors, as Becky was well-known in the neighborhood, because she had cleaned most of the neighbors homes or babysat their children.


Cyndi's party was a pre-engagement party, I think. She wasn't engaged, yet, but she and Shandon were surely thinking about marriage. She got married when she was 19. She worked at Family Bookstores, while she was being home-schooled, so her trek through her books was slower than the others. She did very well in her SATs and was scholarshipped to Cincinnati Bible College. She didn't accept. She wanted to get married. That was okay with us. And she has a good marriage and great children.


So, that's the story on graduation parties. When I graduated from grade school there was a party at the school, that was it. It was held in the gym and not very many graduates attended. When I graduated from high-school, there was a party at the school, but I wasn't permitted to go. There was a previous commitment made by my parents -- not a party -- I think it was a church service or something -- and I graduated, got my diploma, and came home. No party for me. I had even sewn a really pretty dress for the event.


The night I graduated from high school is embedded in my mind forever, I think.
It was a hot, humid day, and practicing in the heat was taking its toll -- kids were dropping like flies. After practice, which they cut off at 10 a.m., we went home and waited for the graduation exercise.


Around 5 p.m. a string of thunderstorms rolled through Runnemede and arrangements were made to have the graduation in the auditorium -- which meant only parents could attend -- rather than in the football stadium, to which we could invite 6 people. Well, it cleared up in time for the graduation to be held outdoors. However, two things the powers-that-be forgot or didn't think about -- first, the turf was wet, and we all sunk in to our ankles. There had been a LOT of rain. Second, it got cold, really cold, and we weren't prepared to be outdoors in cold weather, since it had been so hot only two hours prior to the ceremony.


My father was asked to give the invocation (that's a prayer given prior to the ceremony). My friend, Linda Lott's father was asked to say the benediction (that's a prayer after the ceremony). I'm including those definitions because they don't do prayers at graduations any more.
Daddy, of course, had on his three-piece suit, so he wasn't cold at all. I was freezing. I mean those gowns -- under which we ladies were ordered to wear only our underwear including a full slip -- was not enough covering in cold weather. I mean, I thought it was going to snow after those storms went through. It wasn't really that cold, it just felt like it because it was so windy.
The ceremony went according to plan, except for the sloshing sound our feet made in the turf. I got my scholarship, and some other award, and that was it. I went home. Sulked for several days, and forgot all about my lack of party attendance. It was time to get ready for college, and the day after my graduation from high school I receive a letter from my college telling me the books that ALL incoming freshmen were required to read prior to attendance in September. They were boring books, too.


I never did get any thrill out of reading Walden's Pond, The Federalist Papers, or 1984. I also had a volume of American literature which included stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and several other not-so-easy-to-read authors. I was on my way. Graduation was left behind, and I was looking forward to my college experience.


I spent the summer on the porch, reading those books. And thankfully, it was a breezy, not-too-hot summer and I was able to enjoy my reading time.