This past Friday was graduation day for those students in my school who have made it to the finish line. The faculty requested a volunteer from the student council to act as usher so my co-president Blondie and I called a meeting of the entire council, which meant the two of us in the ladies room between classes. She checked the date and said she wasn’t available so we opened it up to the rest of the council. I volunteered.
The night before that day arrived, Husband and I went to Brooklyn College where Husband was honored as one of Brooklyn’s Men of Distinction. This is an award bestowed by one of our senators on prominent community leaders who make a difference in the lives of the people of Brooklyn. I was so proud of him. It also happened to be graduation night at the college and walking among all the nicely dressed, excited young people and their families reminded me of my own kids’ graduation ceremonies and how much I loved attending them. Nice night.
Friday morning I went to read Dear Amy in the newspaper and reached for my glasses, which broke in half before I could get them on my face. This was amazing to me since I had just taken them the day before to be adjusted. The technician even congratulated me on not adjusting them myself since that’s how glasses break. The other way is when the technician adjusts them.
While she was tweaking my frames in the office, I mentioned how much I love them and how many compliments I get on the rimless lenses with their metallic magenta arms and she said to enjoy them because they’ve been discontinued. In fact, they can’t even get replacement parts; the company shut down the whole metallic rimless line. Of course.
So now it’s graduation morning and I’m due to usher and follow the program which I could only read in these glasses if I was Cyclops so I have to find my former pair, the ones that make me look like a Soviet assassin on the run with my boyfriend Boris. When I locate them I can see why I get compliments on the metallic ones. And since it’s a four-year old prescription that’s about all I can see.
I fulfilled my ushering duties and sat back to enjoy the ceremony. The student who delivered the graduation speech for her class was a woman several years older than me, and I’m one of the student elders. She spoke of the road that brought her to this day, a journey that began ten years ago. That was when she decided to pursue this career, but before the school term began she fell and broke her wrist in two places. Since this is a skill you cannot perform with a broken arm, her plans were put on hold.
She re-enrolled at a later date, then her son became seriously ill with a virus that lasted three years so she withdrew again. Her next attempt ended when she sneezed and ruptured a disk in her back requiring two surgeries. Finally she began again only to become widowed halfway through. Now that she has graduated, she will retire from her current, longtime job and embark on the future she imagined a decade ago. That’s vision.
Daughter’s Featured Fotos offer Visual Interpretations
williamsburg bridge
vintage baby carriage
driving in reverse
self-portrait mommy & me