The Graduate

What an amazing weekend. I don't think it could have been more perfect if we personally had orchestrated it!

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, albeit a bit chilly. However for all the Hoosiers that had endured clouds and rain and more clouds and more rain it was more than a blessing to see cloudless blue skies and lots of sun.

Out of all the graduations we have gone to, this is the first one that has been outside. Amazingly enough we were steered to the folding chairs rather than the bleachers. Oh Thank You Lord! My back would not have endured three + hours on the bleachers!!

Three hours is a LONG time for a graduation -- but this one was punctuated by a memorial service/graduation for the three seniors that were transported to heaven in the semi/van accident on April 26. I was trying to imagine how I would have felt if it had been Timothy....

420 students graduated -- 20 of them finished with double majors -- Tim was one of them. We are so proud of him!!



The speaker was Dr. Stephen L. Johnson a 1973 graduate of Taylor and currently the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. One of the Taylor traditions is to present each student with a towel symbolizing Christian service, encouraging each graduate to live a life of service to the Lord and to others. Dr. Johnson has presented President George W Bush with a Taylor towel -- and he, in return, wrote a letter to the Taylor graduates; each student will receive a copy in the next few weeks.

I thought that was pretty impressive. Between Bob, me, and our children we have now gone through 10 graduations and this is the first in which the class has been acknowledged by the President of the United States.

Unfortunately we were sitting too far away to get a picture of Tim as he received his diploma, but we will get an official one from the school in a couple of months.

After graduation we went to The Rock where Tim has lived for the past year with five of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. They set up a barbeque with moms bringing salads and desserts. Tim presided over the grill. I DID get a couple of pictures of that....he's a pretty good grillmaster.

Later we headed down to Fishers to spend the rest of the weekend at The Dumpling with Torrey and Chris.

It was The Most Perfect Weekend.

And now all three of our children are college graduates. Tim has a pin saying "For Hire". We are hoping with him for a Very Good Job in a Very Expensive Restaurant until he raises the support he needs to head off to the Middle East as a missionary for two years.

We are, of all parents, most amazingly blessed.