which was free (thanks to the AMX points that we've been saving up), along with the hot breakfasts everyday. Mother's Day brunch was positively over the top.However great it was to be at the beach (even though it was cold and overcast, for the most part) we spent most of our time on the beautiful campus of Thomas Aquinas College, in Santa Paula, where my son has been in pursuit of higher education for the last four years. He and the other students loved it there so much that most of them were reluctant to leave it for good.
The whole weekend was a whirlwind and we enjoyed every minute of it. Mama E was right. I did need a whole box of tissue--mostly because I had the worst cold of the year. It put a slight damper on the festivities for me, but nothing could keep me away from my son's college graduation. Now that the weekend is over, I feel fine. Of course, the worst of my virus had to fall on the most busy days of the weekend.
Graduation day started with a Mass, mostly in Latin, celebrated by George Cardinal Pell from Sydney, Australia, who also gave the commencement address. Here he is after the closing procession:
Then the culmination of four long years arrived. The graduation ceremony was long (even with only 84 graduates, the biggest class yet), as most tend to be, but we didn't mind it this time because we were waiting for that one name to be called. As we, his friends, and family cheered, my son strode up to the stage to receive his hood and genuine degree that is actually signed right there by the president of the university. And now I'd like to present the graduate in his cap and gown:
Yes, handsome, I know!
