Out Of The College Business

When Wifey and I decided to have kids, I immediately went into Dad thinking mode. What must I do? With all the manifold blessings the Ds have brought, I distilled my responsibilities to three basic ones: love them, support them, educate them. Nothing radical here, but I always try to keep my eye on the ball in life, and those three duties remained my guide. As of last weekend, I can say: check, check, and check. Wifey, on account of her bad back and added attraction of hurt wrist, flew up to UF, while I fetched D1 on Brickell and began the schlep up to Gville. We stopped in Port St. Lucie, and D1 had chicken while I treated myself to a couple of Nathan's hot dogs, savoring the flavors of my youth, and remembering my Mom, who loved a grilled hot dog more than anything with the possible exception of a whole boiled lobster. The trip went well, and we arrived in Gville to awful traffic. Archer Road has become, as my friend Mike noted, Kendall Drive -- filled with strip malls and big box retailers. It occurred to me that Miami traffic is bad, but at least there are awesome things to get to. In Gainesville...not so much. Still, we mustered at D2's apartment, where we were joined by her fine BF Jonathan, and changed for the evening ahead. Graduation at the footbal stadium -- the Swamp, as they call it. The Swamp isn't my favorite place -- I watched the Canes lose there three times to the slimy lizards -- but on Friday night it became a venue of joy. The new UF president, Fuchs, remarked that it was the first time in 44 years graduation had been held there -- they usually do it inside at the basketball arena -- and it was a gorgeous night. After D2 took the stage, and we shot a photo on the jumbotron, we realized there were still thousands of names, many comically Asian and Sub Continent, left to be read before the ceremony was over. We walked over to the Bar called the Swamp, and toasted D2 in absentia. She texted us that she had a ride to the restaurant, and we drove to Francesca's to meet for dinner. We celebrated with the Gray family. Their girl Hillary, now living in Chicago, and D1 went to UF together, from '06-'10, and their son Michael, like D2, just got his MS, though in Accounting. It was nice to have a nine year "closing of the circle," and we feasted with them on Italian food. Amy, Mom, had a menu with the graduates names on it, and I spent the evening talking to Amy's brother, a proud uncle, who came all the way from upstate NY to celebrate his nephew's graduation. Marty Gray out punned me in his remarks to Michael, and we all groaned and laughed together. Saturday, after sleeping in, including my epic slumber until 9:30, we fetched the Ds and headed to Kanapa -- a botanical garden we had never before visited. It was lovely -- paths through trees and ponds, with waterfalls and birds singing. We paused at a swing next to an herb garden, and drank it all in. Saturday night, Jonathan rejoined us, and we hit Embers, our Gville go-to steakhouse, and feasted and toasted again. Wifey and I went back to the hotel, while the younguns headed out to Midtown for a final night of college/grad school partying -- apparently they got back sometime between 3 and 4 am. I woke them at 930, and headed to Maud's, the famous coffee house, for take out breakfast. The cappacinos woke the Ds, and we packed up the cars and tossed out the old trash. This last activity gave me opportunity for my final act of Gville charity. A couple in a pickup truck, locals, were rummaging through the dumpster, in search of the many castoffs of college kids not wanting to schlep stuff home. I "found" a $20 dollar bill and handed it to the woman, lying that someone must have dropped it, and it may have been her. She smiled, took it, and said "Praise Jesus!" Wifey thought I might have done it with a $10 dollar bill, but, hey, what are ya gonna do? We dropped Wifey back at the Hilton, so she could read the Sunday papers and make it to the airport for the short flight home, and the Ds and I caravanned down I-75 and the Turnpike. It was a smooth trip, and D2 dropped her sister on Brickell. Wifey arrived close in time, and actually took the skytrain to Metrorail. I awaited her at UM --parking in the lot where my beloved on campus apartment used to be, and walking by the lake. It was also a nice closing of the circle -- my starting off adulthood there, and now sheperding my Ds to THEIR adulthoods... I fetched Wifey, and D2 and I unloaded her stuff. She was home. It was delightful. So I put them both through college and grad school. I'm extremely proud of my Ds -- they've become awesome young women. And though I tend towards the self deprecating, truth is, I'm EXTREMELY proud of Wifey, and myself. We love our kids immensely, and supported them, and now have completed, at least formally, educating them. If there's a better feeling, well, I don't know what it is.