Double Graduations!

This blog started off when we moved to Hong Kong at the suggestion of my friend Michele. A way to chronicle our family’s adventures, recording them with new digital technology. Previous stints overseas of mine and Michele’s were lost to memory in the 1980s and 1990s. I’ve loved writing things down over the years. I remember writing blog posts late at night in Hong Kong, trying to get it all down before the next adventure started in the morning. And it stayed like that, though of course the kids started doing more with friends and less with us, until the pandemic. We had adventures over COVID but perhaps harder to write about, scarier, more homebound, without end dates. I also started writing essays rather than posts and may put some of those up here. But still the desire to write about the big things pulls at me. And we definitely had big things happen this past year.

In June, the twins graduated from high school! After a year and half of mostly at home school, it was a real treat to go to an in-person graduation and celebrate with the twins and their friends. The graduation itself was in town at the football field, as opposed to out of town at an ice skating rink for Tori’s a few years earlier. I loved the hometown feel of it, exactly like my own graduation at a football field. We sat in the sun, with Grandma and Uncle Mark and his family, and cheered. We took pictures of Adam and his friends, heady with excitement and sneaking cigars. We took pictures of Royce and her friends, radiant and covered in brightly colored cords signifying their many honor societies.

Summer past in a blur. Kids were here, there and everywhere. Tori worked remotely, first with us and then from her new apartment in Chicago. Royce worked full time at the pool, her beloved summer job. Adam did not work at job but kept busy attending graduation parties all summer long, eating from food trucks and meeting people and coming home way too late. Royce went to Chicago to visit Tori and Adam went to California to visit Grandma. Then both returned for mid-August college departures.

We drove Adam to school first. A long drive made worse by massive traffic. Adam and I walked around the downtown, both carsick. Adam threw up and we went to Walmart to buy supplies. He slept in the car while I bought laundry detergent and plastic bins and a desk lamp. (All this so much easier with a car and big box shopping than with Tori- no car, no stores nearby). We got Adam into his dorm. The move-in quiet and subdued, the kids spaced out with certain time slots due to COVID. He needed thumbtacks. We left to drive to Walmart. We returned in 15 minutes and he was gone, playing basketball with some boys. What boys? We did not even see any boys but Adam found them.

Royce was next, with a long drive in the opposite direction. At this point, we felt like we were professionals at college move-in. We took her out for a nice dinner the night before. Got her to the move-in at the right time. Knew how to manuever the college dorm bed, the same thing in all three of our kid’s colleges. (Hint: you need a sledge to pound it). We lingered in town for a day in case we were needed. I hand the sentimental letter and Phil hands over the cash. And we drive away. (Hint: don’t turn around and look back. Thanks to Lisa for this one!) It sounds easier than it is.

Other things happened, some of which we heard about in phone calls and some of which we saw when we visited for Parent Weekends. (Three back to back Parent Weekends- hectic but fun). The twins figured it out. Both had somewhat challenging dorm situations that they sorted. Both found community. Adam through the frat. Royce through the crew team. Both seem happy and confident. Not sure we’ve figured out the school part of it all but hey, its only the first semester!