Glad it all worked out. My kids’ school always had a lock in at some civic center with lots of indoor activities like climbing gyms, casino games, pop, pizza, photographers, magicians, and so forth. I know this because I think I worked this overnight event six times, and I only had four kids in high school, and two of them were twins who graduated the same year. One of them just graduated from college.
When they left for college, the first few days were a little weird, but I was amazed at how quickly i adjusted to being an empty nester!

Our graduation was on the football field on campus, and I have no memory of parties or anything of that sort afterwards.  There may have been some, but I sure don’t remember it.  Our senior class trip may have removed the need for that.

Despite the weather, it sounds like it was enjoyable in one of those happy/sad ways.

Congratulations proud mom!!  It is an awesome day and letting go is not nearly as hard as some would have you think.  If you have done the best you know how--and most of us do--and if our kids are well grounded--and yours certainly seems to be--well, then you cannot do anything more than that and together you can look forward to another exciting chapter in your life.  It doesn’t have to be a downer and for me it wasn’t--I was so happy for them and glad to see them moving on.  Well, one of them anyway.  The other one might be a slightly different story--he is more like a boomerang--keeps leaving and coming back.  I clearly did something wrong.   I keep telling him he needs to understand the concept of LEAVING and coming back to VISIT like his older brother!!  LOL

But seriously, congratulations to you both.  It is too bad about the weather - but look at it as just another footnote to a very special day.  YAY for you both!!

Congratulations to the lad and to you for raising a fine son! What a wonderful day for your family.

Pablo - It’s an idea that’s been around for a while and I like it. They couldn’t have found a better way to lock the kids in than put them in the middle of the harbor. Initial reports suggest that they had a blast. As expected, the lad is still asleep and probably will be for a while. He happily dragged himself through the door this morning and had just about enough energy left to make it to his bed. You are a good man to volunteer for duty even when your kids weren’t involved.

Linkmeister - My graduation was in the school auditorium and no senior trip. Sound is a lot better in an indoor room, I recall. Being back in the day when the town we lived in was a dry town and terribly tiny, there wasn’t much opportunity for anyone to get into any trouble so we just blended back into regular society afterwards. Since half the class were farm kids, they probably had to get back to do chores, anyway.

Cyn, Kim—thanks. It was a great day and we did have fun. And I am very proud of him. Now we cast our eyes toward what’s next. In two and a half months he’ll be out of the nest and will really start to build his life. That is so exciting—for him and for me. I really don’t know how I’ll feel as a new empty-nester, but after that initial weird feeling that he’ll walk through the front door at any minute—and he doesn’t—I think the idea will grow on me pretty quickly. Mama has to start thinking about what’s next in her life, too.

Heartfelt congratulations to The Lad, as well as to you and The Dad.

Thinking back to my earliest memories of your household (ummm, 1997?), it’s been a long, strange trip that has turned out very, very well.

My principal memories of high school graduation in June, 1968 are these:

a) the girls’ gowns were white and the boys wore purple (the school colors, of course)

b) I shaved off my mustache for the event.  It was the last time I was bare-lipped.

Thank you, N. It has been a trip, hasn’t it?

With regard to a): Here the boys wore maroon and the girls wore gold. School colors. They had to buy their caps and gowns, so the lad’s hangs in the closet until such time as he either wants it or I get tired of it taking up space in the closet. It could be useful as a Halloween party costume, maybe.

b): having never seen you without a mustache, I hope you are never moved to shave it off again. I just can’t imagine it....!!

re: b) --

After 38 years and counting, the probability of me going without a mustache (and beard, which has been here for only about 34 consecutive years) is vanishingly small.