Nick's Graduation

Yesterday, my dad turned to me frankly and said: Today is the last day I am officially a parent. If I were a certain kind of person, I could walk away now and give up all responsibility for you two kids. As he said this, we rose to watch my brother’s high school graduation ceremony unfold, with pairs of black robed, smiling young adults proudly walking down the centre aisle. It was strange to see these kids turned adults - kids we had known since they were yea high – taking a stand as the new leaders of our generation. And it is funny to think that only three years ago, I was standing in exactly the same position.

Now, generally, I am not one to start my posts in a romantic fashion. However, I have to say that I was overcome by a funny sense of jealously, partly because I wish I could turn back the clock back to my last days of high school, and partly because I missed the important event of graduating with all of my classmates. As many of you know, I was away in Japan when my graduation took place. In the end, I graduated a year late at my brother’s high school among a group I hardly knew. Actually, it wasn’t that in particular that bothered me. The most saddening thing was that they didn’t know me. In this way, I am happy for my brother as he was given the opportunity to graduate with the people who have made the last four years of his life the most interesting and fulfilling of his life. This is one chance I threw to the wind, though the sacrifice was far from being in vain.

The graduation itself was well thought out. Three of my brother’s friends made a video presentation in which my brother appeared about ten million times. The high school band also played a few jolly tunes, though I swear upon my life that I never, ever want to hear Land of Hope and Glory again, thank you very much. (It was repeated 20 times over easily as the graduates walked in and out of the hall.) The highlight of the graduation was the piano performance by a grade 9 student named Amanda who writes and sings her own songs. The song was called Goodbye and was written especially for the graduating class. Another interesting note is that Nick’s class is the first to have completed four full years at his high school, and graduated. The previous grades had all attended my old high school at some point since Nick’s high school was still under construction. Nick decided not to come home with us after the ceremony since a party for the entire class had been planned – let’s just say he had a lot of fun. *rolls eyes*

My grandma also came over for the occasion. Since my parents were downtown for the day, we had planned to meet at the mall for a day out. As I was waiting for her, I passed the time by eavesdropping on two elderly couples, obviously unacquainted, who had somehow become deeply engaged in a conversation about the Second World War. The first couple appeared to be completely Canadian, while the other professed to be Italian. The part of their conversation that made me laugh was when the old Italian man rubbed his great, big bobble of a nose and casually said in a thick foreign accent: You know, it was really us that won the war. The old Canadian couple’s words suddenly hung in silence, biting their tongues for fear of turning the conversation in a very uncomfortable direction. After a few awkward seconds (for me just as much as my four unknowing companions) the Italian man laughed, saying: “Yes, we all won the war…because we are all still alive!” You could almost hear the Canadian couple’s sigh of relief as the tension fizzled. Then the conversation continued, as lively as ever. I smiled to myself, and within moments, my grandma walked into the food court and I went over to meet her. She and I went to Casey’s for lunch, and then shopped for bargains around the mall. We made a great find in Bootlegger since they were selling pretty descent t-shirts for only $3.13 each! We each picked up two, but looking back I should have picked up a few more considering the price. Because of yesterday’s thunderstorms, she decided to stay overnight at our place, and we ended off her visit by meeting my mum and dad at Main Street for lunch. I may not see her again until I get back from England, but even if I don’t, we had a very nice couple of days either way.

Well, that’s about it! Only FOUR DAYS until England!! I’m extremely excited!

And I wish all of my fellow Canucks an early HAPPY CANADA DAY! I’ll be off to Toronto to see my friend Erin tomorrow to raid Chinatown, and if I can convince her, maybe Harbourfront as well. Happy celebrating!