Concord - Hank's Graduation Weekend May 26-28

 May 26 - Hank's 18th birthday

    It was a long, but smooth travel day. We flew from Missoula around noon, having returned the rental car and getting a last coffee at Le Petit Outre. Missoula is a small and very manageable airport.

    We had about a 3 hour layover in Salt Lake City and saw in the Sky Lounge and relaxed and ate lunch. 

    As it is one of the busiest travel days of the year (Memorial Day weekend), the airport was crowded. Our plane was fully booked and it took so long to load that we ended up being about 40 minutes late. Why airlines don't load the back of the plane first is a mystery. But, the flight was smooth.  

   Otis was there to pick us up (12:30 a.m.) which was wonderful. He just finished his sophomore year and was very descriptive about his program, his training, his certifications  and flights and a lot just about the airline industry. 

May 27 - Day One of the Graduation Festivities

     A gorgeous day in Concord - mid 70s. Jecca and Otis went shopping for hiking boots for their upcoming trek along Wainwright's in northern England. The two of us went for some coffee and took them to Old North Bridge National Park where we strolled the gardens and listened to birds. 

     Later, Jecca, Hank and Barbara went to the Senior Recital. Then, we went to dinner for the grads and their parents where Mark joined them. We sat with the student voted to give the valedictory address, Tim ___. He and Hank are good friends. Isaac ___ and his parents also sat with us.

    Then, Barbara, Otis and Jecca went to the Baccalaureate in the beautiful chapel. Students sang, including Hank. John Hirsch, English teacher who used to be department head was chosen by the students to give the address. He is retired after 30+ years. His speech was excellent, summarizing how he came to the campus as a young man, never expecting to stay and talked about his growth as a teacher, coach, then as a parent and husband. It was touching and poignant and reminded me of how Mark and I felt about retiring and leaving the community and culture of teaching. Both Hank and Jecca shed tears. It was a beautiful ceremony.

May 28 - Graduation Day

       Hank got up at sunrise to join most of the class in the traditional dip into Bateman's Pond. Then, he went to rehearsal.

      Otis represented Willy well and he wore a tie from his grandad, his dad's belt and also Hank's clothes. Willy was, of course, very missed.

       The day was hot (low 80s) and sunny. Graduation began at 11 and we had amazing seats very near to the front and mostly shaded. The graduates entered by a procession from the chapel across the circle. The audience formed a funnel for them. 

     The head of the Board of Trustees, and a alum Jason Robard gave introductory remarks. They were very good. Then, Tim gave an excellent valedictory speech about his evolution at the school and the support he got from Erica Prall and also gave credit to Jecca. It was funny and touching. He was followed by the keynote speaker, also an alum. She talked about her life in global health which has taken her to many countries. She credited Middlesex with helping her and her brother (Erica's husband) get visas when they were students here when it was called into question whether they could stay or be sent back to Ghana. It was also a very good speech. All the speakers talked about the importance of community and involvement.

    It was nice to see Otis get together with two faculty kids from his class, Eliza and Gavin. We remember supervising them in the playground when they were in pre-school.

      After the diplomas were given out, we all went to a very good lunch in the gym.