Graduation Night

 When you're the mom of a lot of kids, your needs and milestones get pushed back on occasion. The night of my graduation was no different.

 Micah had a piano competition (luckily it was at ASU, so that made it a little easier to do two things at exactly the same time), so we were rushed and delayed--Brad forgot his phone and traffic made it impossible for Micah to complete one part of his competition before dinner.

 All online graduates from our program and their guests were invited to the Athletic Club overlooking Sun Devil Stadium for a light dinner before the ceremony. It was cool up there--now I see why people pay the big bucks for box seats!

 Lily needed a few shots for her Instagram--I love that spunky girl.

Because we had been delayed before the ceremony, Brad needed to take Micah to the music building to complete his theory test. That meant that Lily and Hyrum would save them (and Eve) seats in the arena, but they both needed cell phones to meet up when Micah finished. That meant that I couldn't have mine during the ceremony.

And that meant two things--I couldn't take any pictures during the ceremony, but most importantly, I couldn't find where they were sitting (and they couldn't find me until after my name was called).

I did hear them calling "MOMMY!" as I headed back to my seat--and I found my cousin's supporters who cheered loud enough and waved big enough for me to see them. It made me sad that I couldn't connect with them from the floor of the arena.

 I did it! So many hours reading and studying. So many reams of paper copied and highlighted.

 So many words left my brain, passed through my fingertips, and assembled on the screen. Original thought and original work. It was a lot of work.

When I was contemplating going back to school, I had a friend share this bit of wisdom: "Two years from now, will you look back and regret that you didn't do it?" I think I would have regretted not carpe diem this time.

I loved every second of it.

As amazing as the night was, the most important thing to me is that these guys were there to cheer as my name was read.

 No matter the degrees or any outside accolades, my most precious titles are wife and mother.

But I still feel the tug of academia and learning . . .