Graduation

My daughter graduated from high school this week. What a lovely moment. I had a wonderful time and amazingly so did my Dad. I was a little worried, concrete stairs, confusion, crowds.... I really thought it might be a little much for him. But he sailed through the ceremony like a champ.

On the way home, we were talking about the ceremony and he turned to me and asked:
"Did you enjoy the movie?"
Hmmmm, Dad thought it was a movie, okay. I can go with that. "Yes Dad I enjoyed it very much.:
He then asked if I understood the ending.
It occurred to me that the flow of the ceremony, really did not make sense. All formal pomp and circumstance and then once the graduate had their diploma, mamas and papas were hugging and kissing their babies and friends were hooting and hollering.
"Yes Dad, I did get the ending, everyone lived happily ever after."

He really didn't care about the ceremony per se What mattered to my Dad, was the spirit of the event and thinking about it, I could say there is a happily ever after for those kids. Maybe not the life they envision now, but the possibility of "happily ever after" is there for each of us.

But once again Dad surprised me,he was not done with his lessons for the night. He looked at me and asked "Where is our baby?" I knew in that moment my daughter and I were tangled in his brain and he needed to know there was a happy safe ending for us. I told him not to worry his baby was peacefully sleeping and happy. He nodded and said "Good".

So I believe and my Dad reaffirmed that "happily ever after" does exist and is there for each of us. We just have to recognize it and not get caught up in a preconceived notion of what it will look like, sometimes "happily ever after" is not the size, shape, color or financial status we once envisioned.