My Daughter Graduates

Grad & Me

   

    After my daughter's wedding, I had been waiting for some mother and daughter time to give her the speech I had written for her. I knew we had to be alone to give her this letter because it would be very emotional for me. It started off a short letter but turned into a short novel because I started remembering all the  little things she said or done over the years. I decided to write about each place we had lived with the military, which came to a total of 7 different cities. It was very therapeutic writing this letter, not only was I remembering the places we had lived, but, I also got to remember the things my little girl had done and said during these special moments. I was glad when I could finally share it with her. It became a very special moment, just like I had imagined.

The Grad

Grad & Brother

      Not only do we get to share these past moments with our children, we get to share many present moments, like watching our daughter receive her diploma from the University of Ottawa. We were at the National Arts Centre with all the other proud parents. This event made me realize that in the future I would have to start considering seating arrangements. It all started when I was getting ready... I moved a plant, which was on wheels, and previously had been fairly simple to move. When I pushed it out of my way and that is all it took for me to lose my balance. It was as if I was falling in slow motion, and when I fall now it is not like a sack of potatoes, it is more like a tree, “timber”. So as I was falling, I bent all the nails back on my right hand trying to stop the fall. I landed on my chin but, luckily I was not seriously hurt. I was pretty shaken up inside. I continued getting ready to watch our daughter receive her diploma which she had working so hard to receive.

Grad & Husband

Grad's Family

       We arrive at the NAC and there were so many people.    We found out for this event our seats were on the third level because of assigned seating. I was so afraid getting to it and thinking I was going to fall off the balcony and not to mention I was thinking if I had to go to the bathroom I would have serious issues. We found our seats but there were so many students graduating it took a long time to get to the our daughter's. Of course, I had to make a pit stop and had crawl over the people to get to the end. I was so embarrassed I even had to grab on to someone’s knee as I was attempting not to fall over the edge.  I went to the facilities and came back but decided to sit on the end of the isle behind us. This was much better! From here, I watched my daughter receive her diploma of an Honours Degree in Psychology and a Minor in Asian Studies. Just think, her future can really begin now. After the ceremony, we had a small celebration at the condo with just family.

Friend's Family

     It seems we were in celebration mode. Another dear friend of mine was celebrating her 50^th. This friend and I have known for 17 years. It is funny how life is. We were together in Alaska for four years and during this time we spent a lot of time together. My family helped her through a major event and now she is helping me. 

My Friend

      It turns out that after our move to the condo, we are only 3km from each other and this was not even planned. She comes and takes me for walks, shopping, and appointments and just to visit. I know I can count on her even when times get rough and we know there are rough roads ahead, but luckily for me I have lots of support to travel these rough roads and hard journey.