Graduations are LONG but Entertaining

The word of the day was "Sesquicentennial " and with my cell phone on vibrate and a half tank (all I can afford these days) the posse and myself ventured down southwest for Linfield College's commencement ceremony. With the unknown ahead we ventured majestically in Mac-Vegas for the days festivities. In retrospect, I don't know what was better, seeing a giant painted sign banner "Congradulations" (think about it for a second... yehp... exactly what I thought terrible speller!) or the commencement speaker being the college's 99 years old retiring math professor and who started his career in teaching just 51 brief years after the college's founding. I pick option B. old educated gentleman...

This man was the most captivating speaker I've heard since attending Desmond Tutu's speech during my senior year and the dean of the White House press corps Helen Thomas (*see bio below) at my own college commencement. The 5000 person audience on that overcasted Sunday, quite honestly, could have listened to his anecdotes for the rest of their lives; we all were like little children listening to their favorite Dr. Seuss story white eating grahm crackers and drinking Capri Suns. I was actually disappointed when his speech ended. It was like the Neverending Story meets the grandpa telling The Princess Bride story kind of speech. He was so captivating that I really wanted get to buy a to go box of him and take him home with me. Even when he paused for a while to catch his breath, gather his thoughts and a drink of water, the weight of the cool June air only reflected the audience's childish impatience for his next delightful sentence.

I cannot even begin to do any hint of justice in the description of the amazing nature and poise of this man. His speech recalled the rapid changes he has experienced: from all 6 wars, the Great Depression, accidentally teaching math internationally in broken French, his traumatic 4th grade spelling bee defeat and also playing coyly on his current old age referring to himself as an "antique" of the college (seriously he did) His life is a true testament of continual education through experience and to wrap it up best in his words the secret is to, "Find something beautiful every single day... and take a moment to recognize it before moving on."

Oh yeah back to the graduation, so after 2.5 hours in a folding chair, and a million digital pictures taken I am really proud of my brother for graduating college (he had some sweet shoes on and a whole lot of cords and such around his neck as if he was smart or something) WELCOME TO THE CLUB BUDDY BOY! Now my family is 4 for 4 in college degrees and if Luke continues kicking ass we'll be 5 for 5 in 2011. I am also really glad it didn't rain on my seersucker suit because I looked sexified!

*Helen Thomas- For 40 years, journalist Helen Thomas, often called the dean of the White House press corps, sat front and center at the news conferences of eight U.S. presidents. As United Press International (UPI) White House correspondent and bureau chief, Thomas reigned over the Washington press and accompanied eight presidents on their travels around the globe. Thomas overcame many barriers against women journalists throughout her career. In 1959, she and other female journalists forced the then all-male National Press Club to let them attend a speech given to members by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. When the club finally opened its membership doors to women in 1971, Thomas became its first female officer. In 1972, she was the only woman print journalist allowed to travel with then President Nixon on his historic breakthrough trip to China. She has the distinction of having traveled around the world several times with Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush during the course of which she covered every economic summit. “The World Almanac” has cited her as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in America.