Jodi's graduation went well yesterday. There was just enough wind to keep the heat tolerable, the speakers kept it down to a 7 minute minimum and all in all, the ceremony commenced at a reasonable pace.

Despite our best attempts, we couldn't get enough people to participate in a spontaneous wave, as they called Jodi's name. We did however, manage to hoot and holler loud enough to cause some serious head turning. (Well hey, it's not everyday that your baby sister graduates high school.)

After the ceremony, we clambered down the old football stand and tried, through the massive throng of people to locate Jodi. A difficult task to be sure when she is as short as I am. To rectify the situation, I nudged my self-appointed future brother-in-law (Rob) and dared him to call Jodi's name into the crowd. (The man has absoutely no shame, which is why, he fits in pretty damn well, with our family.) It was an absolute hoot until he decided that yelling my name (first and last) was a lot more exciting. While it may have been funny, I didn't feel at all bad for punching him in the shoulder.

We then moved on to the video portion of the afternoon. I'm not sure who, but someone decided that giving Rob the video camera was a good idea. Pointing the thing directly in my face, he asked me if I had anything I would like to fess up to, in honor of Jodi's graduation. I considered it for a moment, but drew a blank, opting to just say how proud I was of her instead. Audrey went next, confessing her excitement that Jodi chose a college close to hers, because as she gushed, "You have good taste in clothes and now I can borrow them." Amy's turn came next, and never one to shy away from a camera, she smiled as she said, "No matter how old you get, you'll always be Spoofy to me."

Wanting to keep the video dedications interesting, we dared Rob once again. Although this time the objective was to go up to people he didn't know and ask them if they'd like to say a few words to Jodi, in honor of her graduation. For the most part, people were really swell about saying something nice, even if they hadn't a clue who we were or who she was. However, the absolute best message, came from the Valedictorian of her class, despite the fact that Jodi was a little bit horrified by our actions. Someday she'll be thanking us ...