<p>So it rained all day and we all were confident they would pospone the graduation ceremony as it was being held in the brand new outdoor athletic stadium. Wrongo. We called the school and checked the site and their only advice was, “try to make yourself as comfortable as possible.” So we huffed on over there, the stadium was beautiful…in the pouring rain. And there we sat for over 2 hours , IN THE POURING RAIN, while our son along with all his friends sat in the open without cover, in the pouring rain, and were graduated. The band played on …in the pouring rain without cover too. Of course this had to be the year with multiple Vals. and Sals…Once we were totally chilled to the bone and drenched, and they finally started to hand out the diplomas, the crowd in the stands could be held no longer and started to leave in droves after their child’s name had been called. Ah…a graduation to remember!!!</p>
<p>The high point was indeed the fancy restaurant afterward and the droves of families we knew at all the tables. Although our township high school is too big, our community is small and personable and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to see Son #4 with all his friends and the families he had grown up with through the years. And what I need to say here is this, for you parents who have this, you have everything and even seeing your kids graduate under these circumstances can be the highlight of the past 12 years!</p>
<p>Have a nice day and nice to see you all again!</p>
<p>BHG- what a disaster! Well-it will give you something to talk about for years!</p>
<p>When D graduated from Interlochen, the graduation was held in the huge outdoor auditorium. There is a roof, but no sides. It is by the lake, and is really a gorgeous setting. HOWEVER, even in late May northern Michigan can be quite cold. D warned us NOT to dress up, but to be prepared with warm clothes and possibly even blankets. There were actually snow flurries the year she was a junior and she said the mothers in strappy sandals and summer dresses were in big trouble. Her year wasn’t too bad- 50s with a little drizzle, and we were prepared with warm clothes and shoes. People were running back to their kids’ dorm rooms to gather blankets and towels to huddle up in.</p>
<p>BHG–two years ago, my S also “graduated” in a rainstorm. In our case, the rain which had threatened all day opened in a deluge just as students were starting the half a mile march from the school to the stadium. The families were sitting in a virtual waterfall as the stands are concrete steps with no drainage. Shortly before the kids got to the field, the thunder and lightning started. The sloshed through the puddles, sat through the anthem and first speeches, then the principal came up and said:</p>
<p>not a high school graduation, but when my friend graduated from the coast guard academy a few years ago, i thought i would never recover! first of all, the weather that day was predicted to be 70s and sunny. but by the time the ceremony started, it was about 50 and torrential downpour. however, it gets worse- GW Bush was the commencement speaker, and so the security around the campus and entire town was incredibly tight. snipers on all of the buildings, police checking every single car that drove in (although most of us had to park on the other side of town and get shuttled over, but not before we got our bags checked), police blocking most of the streets near the academy, and each individual in line had to first go through a metal detector, and then get each bag hand checked again. so that was about 1.5 hours in line BEFORE the ceremony. then, the formal procession/introduction to get the ‘important’ speakers on stage took about 35 minutes. the ceremony itself was another 1.5 hours. mind you, that morning the weather man predicted 70 and sunny, so i was wearing light pants, a short sleeve shirt, and a cardigan. no umbrella. i sat there on the metal bleachers, shivering for hours (50 degrees, unexpected downpouring rain. and im very small). by the end of the ceremony, my hands were deep purple, the rest of me was blue, and i was chattering so much that i couldnt speak or walk! my friends brother had to drag me out. it took 5 hours of tea, dry clothes, and blankets for me to be able to warm up!</p>
<p>BHG, I am glad that you came back to post, but so sorry about the rain! We don’t know where your S is going from here. I remember you were looking at a few of the same schools that we were considering or looked at. So, if you don’t mind sharing, I would love to know where he is going to go in the fall!</p>
<p>we graduated in the metropolitan museum (new york city), which was fun, but we were nearly evicted 20 minutes before graduation because we were making so much noise in the corridor where we were parked before ‘walking’, which happened to be densely populated by office workers for the met, who were quite irritated by our presence.</p>
<p>Can I tell you my awesome, awesome graduation story??? My Son, Chris, is a junior taking mostly Senior classes. He has been a year ahead in math and English since he was a Freshman, so he’s been in classes with this year’s graduating class all through high school. Plus this year, he ended out in two more classes that were mostly Seniors. These are the kids he socializes with, that he “hangs” with. Good bunch of kids.</p>
<p>Normally at graduation, each of the almost dozen Valedictorians gives a one minute speech. This year, they decided to all get together and write one giant speech – in the style of Dr. Seuss. </p>
<p>Son was by himself at graduation, listening to his friends. In the middle of the speech, he suddenly heard the lines:</p>
<p>We’re tired of hall monitors. We’re tired of hall passes.
And why is Chris (last name) in all of our classes?</p>
<p>This is from last year, actually…I was val, and giving a speech, so most of my close relatives had promised to come, including both my biological father and my 2nd stepdad (married to my mother). Anyway, lo and behold, one of my aunts “just happened to find” my first stepfather and bring him to the ceremony. Now, keep in mind that this 1st stepdad had come over and practically terrorized my mother and 2nd stepdad when they were dating. Anyway, 2nd stepdad wouldn’t have had a huge problem with it, but then both of my aunts who had come started getting chummy with stepdad #1 while completely ignoring stepdad #2, which they had done in the past. </p>
<p>Anyway, results of this included: mom and stepdad #2 almost ended up divorcing over this, both aunts were not allowed to come to my graduation party, and we are now basically estranged from the entire rest of the family. My mom couldn’t stand to be near either aunt, so she’s had to forego family weddings, reunions, etc. which has further ****ed everyone off.</p>
<p><sarcasm>God, don’t you just love family?</sarcasm></p>
<p>D’s hs graduation some years back was held in the Greek Theater (huge) and the students went up individually on stage to receive diplomas, after which some did various attention-getting walks or dances on the way back to their seats. One girl turned around on stage and did a shimmy. She was wearing a tube top and her breasts popped out in front of thousands of people. It wasn’t clear whether or not this was an accident.</p>
<p>We happened to be sitting next to her Southern Californian grandmother, who stood up and shouted: “She was a good Christian girl until she moved to Berkeley!” and fled down the steep steps with her stunned son and daughter-in-law trailing after her, yelling: “Mom, you don’t know where the house is.” I felt badly for her. What a scene.</p>
<p>I hear you, Chris! Graduation day 2005 was probably the worst day of my entire life that didn’t involve a hospital or a funeral home. This despite the fact that my d2 was valedictorian, all living grandparents were able to attend, and the weather was spectacular.</p>
<p>Not to hang too much dirty laundry, but the stressors included a car that self-destructed on the way home from the shop after $700 in repairs; a husband with a short temper who hates spending $700 on ANYTHING, let along a moribund car, and whose visiting parents bring out his absolute worst side; husband’s mother, who has always been critical of graduating d2 while obviously preferring d1 and husband’s two nephews; nasty spat between MIL and my mother, who had previously managed to maintain a frosty truce for 27 years; d2, who can be VERY difficult, kicking it into overdrive to see what it could really do. Those are just the high points - I could go on.</p>
<p>No kidding - I cried for a week afterwards because I was so disappointed and hurt. Fortunately, a few wonderful friends helped me see the (admittedly black) humor in the whole thing. And d did give a very nice speech.</p>
<p>Wow, makes my story seem tame! Ceremony went well and weather was great, but afterwards everyone streamed onto the football field to meet up; as soon as we found my S, he mentioned that he couldn’t find his mortarboard (which had been flung in the air) and my DH immediately disappeared to search for it. We never did find him again until he called from home (a few blocks away). Seems I was the only spouse who remembered to carry a cell! My S went off to find friends, leaving me with my mother and brother who both wanted to go back to the house to eat (it was now close to 9 pm). My 80-year-old mother was especially concerned about my poor starving 56-year-old brother. I was on the brink of hysterics.</p>
<p>Guess it just shows that every silver lining has a cloud!</p>
<p>At my law school graduation, the rain was so bad that my gown melted and destroyed my dress with nasty black dye. During the “presentation of degree candidates to the president” part of the ceremony, the law school dean added some new language and presented “these men and women, no matter how wet and sorry they may seem…”</p>
<p>My college graduation was 75 degrees and sunny, but I cried the entire day. You would have thought someone shot my dog. I lost it at 7 a.m. when I came into the dining hall and saw my classmates in caps and gowns, and I pretty much kept it going all day. It got pretty old for my family.</p>
<p>My graduation was fine, but I had to be rushed to the emergency room halfway through my grad night by the chaperones in front of all of my classmates, which was no fun.</p>
<p>I don’t have a horror story, but our graduations are really fun. They hold them at Continental Airlines arena so anyone who wants can come and they have some pretty cool speakers…there was a juggler one year…</p>
<p>Hey, all stories including the ‘family dynamics’ stories are wonderful. I’m feeling much better now. Sadly a point comes , as it has in my family, when most of the wild family members are gone.</p>