We flew out of Denver early Friday afternoon. Don used his credit card points to buy the tickets and they kinda treat you badly when you do that. We were all seated apart. Lila was sitting by herself in the second to last row, Don and I were seated in the same row but on different sides of the aisle. We all had middle seats. Don was sitting between two business people so they ended up talking business. Not sure what kind of people Lila sat in-between. I sat between an old guy and some college punk.
The flight was fine until we approached Kansas City. Big thunderstorm in a holding pattern. We circled KC for about an hour hoping the weather would move out. It didn't. The pilot finally said we were low on fuel and had to land in Salina KS. Salina has a tiny airport. A Phillips 66 truck came out on the runway to re-fuel us. There is no terminal there, we just waited on the plane. The kid sitting next to me seemed like a nice kid until we landed in Salina and we could use our cells to call our peeps in KC to tell them were delayed. Then I realized he was a punk cuz he used foul language in public. The old guy sitting on the other side of me, I could tell he wanted to cuss, but he didn't.
Finally, we made to KC. Dhyana was waiting for us; tired and hungry and broke cuz she had spending $5 on a magazine and $5 on a bagel so she wouldn't pass out from hunger after waiting there for us for 3 hours.
We drove into KC to my step-brother's, Peter, house. We were meeting him and his wife, my dad and step-mom, and my sister, Becky. They were all going to Dhyana's graduation, too. It was still raining, but not storming. Missouri is very green this time of year. The flowering trees are past their bloom, but the new leaves are shiny and soft and extra green. That, combined with the smell of rain and the bearable spring humidity, made me miss the flatlands intensely.
Everyone was waiting for us at Pete and Charlotte's house. We headed out for dinner. My dad's a fiend for diner food so we went to one a few blocks away. The waitress was smoking a cigarette out front and she was friendly and scruffy and efficient. And you had to pay cash.
Then we continued on to Lawrence and Dhyana's apartment. Don and I slept in her bed and she and Lila slept on the sofa bed. Dhyana lives across the street from a Burrito King Taqueria. That's open 'til 4 am. And it was the last day of finals. Um...oh, and trains come through Lawrence about 3.5 minutes. And blow their whistles at every intersection. It was a long night.
Saturday was the commencement for the individual schools. These smaller ceremonies allowed time to each graduate to have their name read and walk across the stage. I filled out Dhyana's name card where they ask you to spell your name phonetically so the professor will say your name correct. The professor still mispronounced it. Good Lord. Then Shane's parents and grandparents hosted a little shindig at their hotel for the graduates. All the STL people then had to leave as Emily's graduation in Columbia MO was that evening. As Dhyana said, they're professional grandparents. The rest of us crashed for a while and then saw the new Star Trek movie. I give it a solid B+/A-.
Sunday was the grand finale. KU has a tradition where the graduates, all 4000 of them, walk thru a tower at the top of the hill overlooking the football stadium, then walk down the hill, enter the stadium, walk the gauntlet thru all their professors before sitting for the speeches. It's quite a spectacle and if the weather hadn't been perfect, could've been quite unbearable. I think it took about 3-4 hours. I think getting all the those kids to walk down that hill in a timely manner is rather like herding cats.
Monday was packing, buying a few gifts, having one last nice meal together and the drive back to KC. We got Starbucks at the airport and dilly-dallied for a while before the final good-bye.
I got a little teary at the graduation, but not full on crying.
This image makes me more teary than the graduation. My babies snug in bed with matching ponytails and sleeping positions.
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