Individualism

"A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gown that 'Individuality' is the key to success." Robert Purvis

Many of you know that I have been in the midst of preparing for my first daughter's graduation this coming June. We have had monthly planning meetings since January. We know others that are also preparing for upcoming graduations throughout the spring. We received an announcement for the son of one of our very dear and old friends from our Air Force days. He was born 8 months after The Scribbler, both in Alaska. We have seen one another many times over the years and have many precious memories of their growing up times.  Recently, we also received an invitation for his open house celebrating his individuality with the above quote. I had to laugh when I saw it due to decisions our group has made regarding what to wear and the roundabout way we got there!

When we first voted, the vote was 8 to 5 against gowns although everyone wanted caps. We decided that it would be all right to mix gowns with dresses or suits chosen by those not wanting to wear gowns. However, to even it out and make it look more equal, some said they would wear gowns so we were more evenly divided. Next time I checked, we had somehow flip flopped and now 8 were wearing gowns!  I chuckled, thinking it would now look lopsided as before, but hey, that is what they had decided. Next, I checked when we were considering doing a group order for the gowns, I found ONLY three still wearing a dress of their choosing in our selected colors of blue and purple. As we finalized the order at the next meeting, I confirmed with them that they still wanted to wear something besides the black gowns chosen by the other 11. One said, "I am wearing a gown too." That left two. The second immediately piped up, "So am I!" which left one lone individual. She said, "I am not going to be the only one!" So, we ordered 14 black caps and gowns with a silver, blue and purple tassel. (lest you think my math is wrong, we added another graduate later in the voting for a total of 14).

When I received this quote, I couldn't help but think of this story and the roundabout fashion of getting there! If you come to our graduation, you will see us all looking a bit the same, but we hope you will see that they are all individuals and have been successful in their accomplishments and endeavors. Please enjoy these group photos taken this last weekend where they did express their individual style and look in a variety of settings. It was a gorgeous day.

(PS We were still missing one of our grads.....)