We are in Michigan this weekend for the start of our on-the-road-June travels. Chuck’s niece is graduating from high school so we came out for the event. It is always bittersweet to attend events like this: my mother died when I was so young, and my whole family situation was so fractured that it can be sometimes hard to watch the families, and extended families gather and celebrate. There were the parents, and the grandparents, and the siblings, and who knows who else all gathered to see the kids get their diplomas. My problem is that I am reminded at these functions of all the people who were never able to see me do those things. And even after all these years, it can still be painful. What I wouldn’t give to see my mom just once more… I guess that’s why I’ve always disliked the pomp and circumstance of these occasions; I am reminded not so much of my success as of my loss.

Hey, am I selfish or what? I took an event that had nothing much to do with me and made it all about myself! Nice! Katie looked great, didn’t trip (a couple of kids did on their way p to the stage, and one girl lost her shoe), AND got her diploma, so it was a very successful night. The graduation was indoors, which surprised me (they are always outdoors in California). At the end a couple of kids sang the school’s alma mater (who actually ever knows the words to their alma mater, anyway?), and one of them had the voice of a professional. That kid could go on American Idol and win, he sounded THAT good. Unfortunately, the alma mater was really short, so he only got to sing a verse or two. By the time we really grasped how good he was, the song was over.

Here in rural Michigan, high school graduation is viewed as a big deal – maybe THE big deal – of these kids’ lives. Looking out into the audience, I was struck by the fact that this is the heart and soul of Middle America. And I can’t wait to get home to California.