June 11, 2020 - The Graduate

Oh my stars.  It was a relatively normal day here, with Rick and I both working.  I tried to curl my hair by putting it in rollers but because I had a zoom meeting, I couldn't do that until noon.  It didn't dry on time so it was kind of gross looking.  Anyway, our assigned graduation leave time was 6:15.  Mom and dad, Jason and Aunt Kari came by for pictures before we left. 

We left right at 6:15 and got to the school at 6:20.  They put us in the library parking lot because we were too early.  The police checked our car to make sure we had a graduate and only two other people in the car.  We sat in our car in the library until 6:30 when we were ushered to the other side of the school.  The spaces there were numbered so our little band of graduates pulled into the space we were given.  That put us in alphabetical order.   When it was time, we were ushered back around the school and lined up in order by the football stadium.  We could hear another group going through graduation, plus Riley was watching it live on Facebook.  She quietly cheered for people she knew.  Finally, we were allowed to drive up in front of the home side of the stadium.  We got out of our cars in small groups while teachers stood by in polos and khakis with class of 2020 masks on.  There were maybe 25 kids in our small group.  There was no real sound as we walked in the home entrance while the previous group walked out of the visitor entrance to where their cars were parked in a line very similar to ours. 

The graduation march came in a teacher said "congratulations" as she marked Riley's name off a list.  We got name checked again as we stepped onto the track where there were orange cones every 10 feet or so.  We walked from cone to cone with the march music until we entered the actual field.  At that point, we walked toward the front of the stage as the graduates continued with the orange cones.  The principal gave a very short speech, declared everyone graduates and within five minutes, her name was called and she crossed the stage.  As we left, she stepped in front of a screen for a photo ( I was very proud because she took a second to turn so I could also get a picture), then we walked towards the exit.  She took her gown off, dropped it in the large box, picked up her actual diploma and a copy of the commencement program and we walked out of the stadium.  One of her favorite teachers was standing by the walkway and she broke protocol to run over for a hug.  And that was it.  Twelve years of school over in a flash.  There were no parties afterward.  We headed home for a late dinner, saxophone practice, and some sleep.