Pomp and Circumstance (and confetti)

Cheers explode and confetti rains down...and it's over.  My Son is no longer a high school student.  He is a high school graduate.  Diploma in hand- tassel officially moved to the "I'm done!" side.
I am proud.

I am happy.

I am dog-gone tired!

I'm all for big ceremonies.  We need them to mark passages from one life stage to another.  We need them to celebrate all the hard work and growth it takes to get there.
But it's the small moments I enjoy.
The details.
Like the way Parker wore his cap way back on his head because he didn't want to mess up his hair. 

(After all, it takes work and lots of product to achieve so much swag!)

And how he followed Hillary's wildly gestured silent directions as he marched into graduation - looking directly at her camera and giving his best fake smile.  (She has trained him well)

 

I loved that Hubby got to sit right beside our boy, and I wondered what they were whispering about as they waited for the 70 kids in front of Parker to walk across the stage.

I think about all the moments that have made up this Senior Year.
A last First Day picture.

Parades in morning sunshine on a fall saturday.

Listening to Parker chat about his life as he facetimes with his uncle.
An 18th birthday.
Waking up at all hours of the night and checking my phone for Parker's "home" text because I can't rest deeply till I know he's safely in the house.
Extra cars in my driveway, boys in my basement, and laughter around my kitchen table.

Hugs before he leaves for bonfires, camp-outs, and air-soft wars with his friends.
Letters back and forth when things were too tense to talk face to face.
Rubbing his hair as he lays over into my lap and vents about his fears and his friends.
Watching movies.
Crying at a funeral.
ER visits.

Dances.

School Play.

A pile of track medals on my kitchen counter.

Huge containers of chocolate milk mix and gallons of milk per week.

And like confetti, these shiny colorful moments explode and make something big and sparkly that lasts for just a moment, but make up a lifetime.