Colin's Graduation

 

May 21, 2017

At my hair appointment on Friday I talked to Kristina about getting something for Colin, like a paperweight or something small together with money.  She suggested Things Remembered at Southridge.  They had graduation globes, but they were too large and more like for high school.  I found the perfect cube that sits on one of its corners.  I had it engraved: Colin G. Dorn  UW-M  May 21, 2017.  I didn't want to wait for it because we were going to the Vagabond Recognition Dinner, so I picked it up on Saturday.  It turned out better than I expected.  There was a special, buy one get the second for half price.  At the time I purchased the first cube, I never thought that Aleksei would be the next to graduate.  So I bought another and I will have it engraved when it's time.

On Saturday, I drove to Sanford Restaurant on a rainy night.  The valet parked my car while I waited for the Janice, Brad, Colin, Beverly and Kaitlin.  We ordered wine with a very slowly paced dinner, with attentive waiters and delicious food.  I had a salad and duck breast with subtle flavorings.  We ordered dessert before our meal to allow for preparation; I had a butterscotch tart, more than I could eat

On Sunday, I left the house at 11:15 a.m. to meet the Dorns at Major Goolsby's at 1:00 p.m.  UWM and Marquette had graduations in the morning; UWM at the Arena, MU at the Bradley Center.  I got downtown just as both groups were exiting.  The traffic was at a standstill with pedestrians and cars trying to maneuver; construction projects didn't make matters any better.  I managed to find street parking a couple blocks from Major Goolsby's.  Brad had to park in a parking structure, because Beverly would not be able to walk any distance.  We had drinks at Major Goolsby's until it was time to walk to the Arena.

The ceremony lasted about two hours.  We stayed to take pictures with the UWM banner.

 

Janice invited me to their house for cake.  I got to my car and was almost to their house when Janice called and said they were still in the parking structure!  It was such a traffic jam getting out.  I got the combination to their garage and waited, not too long; once they were on their way, they made good time.  But instead of cake, we were ready for something more substantial at 5:30, so Janice ordered pizza, plus the cake.  As we were milling about the kitchen, Colin came to me and said that for all my support, he would like me to have his shawl, which was called an appreciation shawl given to someone that provided support in some way.  I was truly touched.