Graduation

Well folks, it actually, finally arrived! "They" promised that if we "stayed in the boat" and worked hard and had faith, that graduation would eventually come, and it did.

Cherisa has a great camera and took some awesome photos of the day. I couldn't decide which to post and which to leave out so I created an album and have included the link here:

https://goo.gl/photos/tizZiXrdzSaLN7dz8

Unfortunately, you will have to copy and paste the link as it doesn't create a "button" for me in this program.

My parents arrived on the night of the 20th but Cherisa and Celina didn't get to town until the afternoon of the 24th while I was in Galveston for practice. And then Caryn surprised me by coming in at midnight and just walking into my house Friday morning ready for the festivities! It was sooooo awesome to have my whole family there for the weekend. A big "Thank You!" to my mom for helping me modify my graduation dress. It took a lot of looking with Jason to find one I liked but it wasn't modest and when I brought home the material to make the sleeves my mom jumped right in to help me sew them into the dress.

The Pinning ceremony was first at 10am. We were each "pinned" by the professor of our choice (I chose Dr. Safa'a Al-Arabi, the director of our program.) and were allowed a maximum 30 word statement to be read while receiving our pins. Here is what mine said, "To my wonderful husband Jason and our outstanding children Rachel, Nathan, Anna, Jaron, Darik, Caleb and Sarah, we did it! Way to go Team Lindh!" It was kind of funny to listen to the rustling of the audience as the list of names kept going after it was expected that the reader would stop. I got a little kick out of it. And it was fabulous to have an opportunity to publicly acknowledge Jason's and the kids' contribution to my education.

Then we headed outside to picnic on the convention center grounds between Pinning and Graduation. We took pictures on the beautiful grounds both in my dress and in my cap and gown. Then it was time to part ways while the family took their seats and I went to line up with my classmates.

I took pictures with my friends but it was on cellphones since family members and cameras were not allowed back in the staging area. I truly could not have made it through school without these wonderful women. My family was my rock for anything not related to school, so basically my real life, and these ladies were my rock for all things school.


After the ceremony we drove home and picked up Rudy's barbecue for dinner. We had Jarrelle and Jason join us for the festivities as they had no family that was able to make it for the ceremony. All my other friends had parties with their own families and the logistics of joining together would have been too cumbersome.

It was a long and sometimes boring day but the happy, high points definitely ruled those all out. It was so great to finally finish my degree and the hardships that school had brought and to officially celebrate this great achievement that Team Lindh accomplished. The kids get their "true" reward in June with our trip to DisneyWorld.