What a week it has been! Last Wednesday, my parents and I drive down to Orange County to attend my sister’s graduation from college. I really could not believe that her 4 years in college had flown by and that she would be done with her undergraduate degree in biology. It was like I had blinked and it was over.
The graduation was actually a lot of fun. I must applaud UC Irvine on their fantastic graduation planning – they graduated 950 bio majors in an hour and a half. They had just one speaker who spoke of the intelligence and abilities of the class and then wished them good luck. They had 2 speakers alternately reading the names and speaking fast while not rushing it. The ceremony was very informal, with students standing up on chairs waving or dancing across the stage after receiving their diploma. One student even stood at the top of the stairs and threw handfuls of glitter into the air as he descended. The best part though was those who altered their names slightly. One kid named “Andrew” (last name unknown) wrote “Andizzle fo Shizzle” on his name card, and instead of being chastised or punished, his name was read just as he wrote it when he walked across the stage. Another more heartfelt change was when a girl included her middle name to be read, but it was no ordinary middle name. She wrote “iloveyoumomanddad” and it was read as one continuous word. Very cute.
My sister of course did the standard, her full name, and definitely did not do anything showy, just a wave and a big happy smile. It was perfect.
Saturday we had a celebratory brunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Schooner or Later, in Long Beach, CA. It was a much smaller group than my own law school graduation celebration had been the year before, but it was fun nonetheless.
After the brunch it was time to get to work. Not only were we there to celebrate graduation, but my sister was going to be moving home with us when we left. This meant we had to pack up everything she owned and move it back to the bay area. Although I knew there would be a considerable amount of stuff, I was not prepared for the volume that was presented … a lot of stuff accumulates in 2 years of living in the same place.
As we were weeding through clothes and packing up pots and pans, I really started considering what this move meant. My parents, my sister, and I would all be under the same roof again in the matter of a few short days. The 4 of us would be sharing 2 bathrooms and 1 kitchen. We would all be getting ready at the same time in the morning. AND most concerning of all, we have not all lived together under the same roof for more than a week or 2 at a time in nearly 8 years … that is a long time.
I am not sure how this is going to work. It could be just fine or it could be an utter disaster. I do know however that accepting this transition takes gumption, and surviving this transition will take even more gumption!
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