Best Place to Be

The last ten days have been loaded, and as we move closer to the longest day of the year, I already know that the next couple months are going to be a blue streak, a blink, a blur. Being present is going to be a challenge. One I'm up for because here is a pretty good place to be.

Last week Lily graduated. This week she attended student orientation at the UW, bonded with her roommate and started the registration process. In between, she's been attending graduation parties. She just left for one now. 

Graduation was a touch surreal. Unfathomable in the way that I still clearly remember my own graduation. I think she''ll remember the lovely night fondly. She humbly wore the cords she earned...one for being in the top 10 percent of her class. Lily never needs to be the loudest voice in the room and that's just one of the things I adore about her. The ceremony was nice and not too long. The superintendent reminded us of the road blocks these kids had to overcome in this crazy world we live in and then he said that the class of 2022 is the best and the brightest he has ever seen. No pressure. I laughed because they looked like surgeons in their Carolina blue gowns. I expect there will be doctors, lawyers, CEOs and lots of success. We posed for some post matriculation photos and then came home to have champs and cake. I was just grateful to get a photo of her in her mortar board. Ted never retrieved his.

We did a quick pivot from looking back to looking forward. Tuesday we left for Madison for SOAR. I also remember my own orientation experience. My mom took me and we had a blast. We drove the VW with the top down and were burned to a crisp by the time we made it to Madtown. After the technicalities, we shopped on State Street and hung out at the piano bar at the Concourse hotel where we were staying. Back then, we didn't register for classes until we moved in at the end of the summer. Registration involved running around a still unfamiliar 936 acre campus, waiting in lines spread throughout the schools and praying for a spot.

Lily is taking her first semester seriously. She isn't sure what it is she wants to do and that is stressing her out a little, but we're trying to remind her that she has time. She deliberately chose her courses to explore areas of interest while also keeping an eye on graduation requirements.

After a 100 degree day of programming, Mike and I headed back to Ted's place and never left except to enjoy the roof top deck after the sun went down. Enjoy it we did. The oppressive heat of the day was replaced by the perfect, breezy night and the capitol alight was our view. Ted's other view. Lily and Faith ditched planned programming and went to Memorial Union for Babcock ice cream and to dip their toes in Lake Mendota. We were applauding that choice and also impressed that she really knows her way around campus. It's feeling more like home for her and soon it will be.

In the meantime, we'll be.here.now.