Graduation and All Night Grad Party

Graduation
We made it....Sarah is now a high school grad. The ceremony was held at the George Mason University Patriot Center, so there was quite a crowd...no limit on number of invitees per grad. It was great to see Sarah marching in. I felt very proud....no tears. We had grandparents, aunt, and friends in attendance, including Marina, who was part of Sarah's life beginning when she was about three months old, and became like a second mother to both Sarah and Daniel. It was great to see her.

We had seats close to the stage, thanks to Daniel (wheelchair seating) plus seating reserved for "senior citizens and people with disabilities" where my parents sat, with everyone else just above them. Unfortunately due to incorrect information from an usher, the students came across the stage to receive their diplomas with their backs to us. Oh well. We had a great view of the graduates in their seats as well as the speakers on the stage.

Gerry Connolly was the featured speaker, along with two student speakers, the principal, and a few others. Most gave short, humorous talks, which helped make the time go by fairly pleasantly. Listening to all the names being read by three teachers was moving and interesting, to hear the diversity represented.

After the ceremony, we had to wait quite awhile until Sarah made it to the front of the arena. By the time she came out, it was raining, including thunder and lightning! We got out of the weather pretty quickly after hugs with all the friends in attendance, but I wonder about the common sense of the folks who stayed out in the open.

All Night Grad Party (ANGP)
Once we got out of the Patriot Center, the next order of business was to get to the ANGP. I had to go, too, since I helped organize one of the food stations (smoothies) and needed to be there to supervise. So we both changed at home (I was supposed to wear black pants and a white shirt; Sarah wore her signature cargo shorts and a t-shirt) and went over to the school. I dropped Sarah off, then found a place to park. It was not as bad as I thought it might be.

When I signed in and found the smoothie station, I learned that one volunteer had been there for a little while, but had left. Later, after no one else showed up, I checked with the folks signing in volunteers and found that one person was not able to come due to illness, and the other was working somewhere else. I spent the evening alternating between carrying trays of drinks around to the students and going to the parent lounge for coffee and snacks. There were lots of good snacks, and plenty of coffee, for all of us sleepy parents.

The kids had a great time, from what I could see; I enjoyed taking drinks to them--they were very grateful since many of the activities were quite strenuous. I got to see a lot of sweaty people! Sarah especially liked the "money machine," where a person stood in an air machine and play money and some real money was pushed up into the air. She could use the play money to buy raffle tickets, chips in the casino, etc.

The kids also were allowed to choose an item from the "store." Sarah picked a George Foreman grill, since we already have a blender, and she does not drink coffee. (We have tried it once, and it seems pretty good.) They also received a t-shirt and a Jefferson Cup, engraved with the school name and 2009 (pretty nice; no one associated with my high school gave me anything when I finished!).

The finale of the night was a magic show, followed by drawings for some items donated by the school (some external hard drives and similar tech items), and the raffle. The students had the choice of TVs, Redskins tickets, a Wii, and iPods. Sarah had put all her tickets in the Wii drawing, since she has been lobbying for one for ages. Her strategy worked; she won the third of the four Wiis being raffled. She RAN to the front to get her prize and hugged it until it was time to go home. Now she says we should spend the amount of money we would have spent on buying a Wii for accessories and games (we had said we would get one after graduation).

Finally, it was time to go home. Tired but happy, we headed home and fell into bed. I think I got up around 10:00, and Sarah, teenager that she is, slept until at least noon, or maybe it was 2:00....

Now, onto the rest of her life!