So proud of our engineer.

With all of the emotion and a hectic schedule, it was nice to have to time to reflect and decompress. I spent several early mornings sitting on the back deck of our rental home (which was a cool little house with all the latest updates) to think back to my time as a college graduate. I honestly don’t remember much except bits and pieces of graduation day and the ceremony. I remember more about the family gathering my parents organized later that day. I do remember, however, a feeling of anticipation – along with nerves – at the idea of finally being out of school.

I think Zach has some of those same feelings, but he is such a stoic that he doesn’t really express himself. He just seems to move right along. I wonder if everything that our family endured over the past 5+ years – especially the last two years – including the sudden death of our family dog, Nixie, has caused Zach to remain inside of himself emotionally. It’s hard to know and, of course, he won’t talk about it. I do know that Nixie’s death hurt him as much as the rest of us.

So, the beginning of “graduation weekend” was somewhat bittersweet. As we arrived at McCamish Pavilion for the Saturday afternoon ceremony, everyone – including Zach – seemed to be caught up in the moment. It was a great, and quick, graduation ceremony, and a lot of fun to watch the jumbotron flash Zach’s name and his honors while his name was read out loud.

We’re so proud of everything our son has accomplished, and we know he’ll accomplish so much more as a “Hell of an Engineer!”