Attending A Graduation...Well, Kind Of

Last week my son graduated with, what he's thinking, is the first of possibly several college degrees. And because life is not something you can always count on, I was unable to attend. I would have much preferred sitting on the hard benches on Temple Square watching the festivities unfold, than what I was really doing...in the E.R. getting an I.V. That's a story for another time.

Since I couldn't go, we tried using all that fancy technology to do the next best thing...my wife FaceTimed the ceremony while I was at home. Since we've never done this before, we weren't sure if it would even work.

Turns out it didn't work very well at all.

We thought maybe I could see my son on the big monitors, but there was no way for me to see anything. I did hear them call out his name. 

After, my son had me pose for a picture, then he took a picture holding up his phone with a picture of me in it so I could be included in family photos. That was nice of him. He's thoughtful like that.

I didn't attend the graduation, and plans to include me only worked marginally at best, but I felt I was a part of it and I was proud of what my son had done and his excitement over graduating was infectious. He's planning on continuing his higher education at another school. I don't know all his plans--I don't know if even he does. It's an exciting time to be alive, to be young with options. And on a spring Friday morning, I was a part of that excitement, too.

Well...kind of.

What It's Like Not Doing What Everyone Else Does...

Tonight I attended my daughter's dance recital. The music's loud, the seating's inadequate, but the performances were heart-felt and sincere. If you can get that out of a bunch of teens and pre-teens, you're doing something good.

But as I watched, I kept thinking about high school graduation. I know it's strange, but I've been  so inundated on social media lately with post after post, picture after picture of proud parents and relieved children. So, what's it like to be a parent who doesn't have a child attend graduation ceremonies from high school?

It's strange.

I have no children who would be graduating this year anyway, but three years ago, it was a different story. My oldest wasn't "clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood" as Hugh Nibley might say. He did not walk down an aisle with a mortarboard on his head, a tassel bouncing to and fro as he moved forward. He was not handed a diploma and given a handshake. He did none of it, and there's a good chance none of my remaining three children will either.

I'll have no pictures to post, no selfies with my kids, but that's a decision we made decades ago. None of my children have gone to a prom, or a homecoming football game, or taken a test with a couple of dozen other students. We've kept them home and taught them the best we could. And when it's all said and done, we will have save the taxpayers of the state of Utah over $350,000.00, at the same time paying the same taxes as everyone else, because as the propaganda arm tells us over and over, we must sacrifice for the betterment of society.

I am happy when I see my friends post their pictures. I remember the day I graduated from high school with fond memories. People will judge us because we have, in their opinion, denied our children those memories, those experiences. And I suppose we have. But for us, some things were more important and we're comfortable in our decisions.

No one knows what the future of my children will be. The same can be said for the millions of high school students that wore the robes, flipped the tassel, and posted the pictures. Doing something different--it's what makes this world interesting.