Graduation!

     I ate so much food this evening and none of it was 7. It was so good. So so good. I had so many desserts: chocolate mousse, apple pie, a cookie, candy... And I had so many appetizers and so much food for dinner and so many drinks that weren't water and I'm about to burst at the seams. I'm also very tired, and the party isn't even over. 

     The graduation ceremony was a lot more uneventful than I'd thought it'd be. I thought the speeches would be inspiring, but they were just drawn-out and predictable. I thought I would feel super proud of my brother, but everything seemed very rehearsed and unpecial. The best moment was hearing how loud the applause was when a kid who'd been in a really bad car accident in July walked across the stage. And watching kids drop their diplomas or forget to take it after getting their picture taken. And seeing TJ in his ridiculous cap. I was kind of surprised when everyone threw their caps because I thought that was something people only do in movies. Also, our former principle never allowed anyone to throw their cap. He was a killjoy. 

     After the formality of graduation, when people started coming over and the party started, that's when I started to really realize my brother was moving on. When I cut the giant iced chocolate chip cookie cake my mom made with an "S" for the high school and a "T" for Temple University with "2014" underneath, the "S" side was eaten first and I told TJ, "See, it's symbolic. The "S" is gone before the "T". High school is gone." 

     A lot of people become sentimental about the end of high school, but not TJ. He looked positively pissed off during graduation, but now he's very happy and had a really nice party. And he's definitely excited about starting college and seems to have no sadness about leaving high school. I can't say that I won't be at least a little sad about leaving high school. I already told TJ that we're having a competition to see who gets the most graduation money. He's gotten so much freaking money! It's ridiculous! 

     Anyway, I'm tired and it's late, so I'll leave you with a song. 

Day 196 Song Recommendation: "American Pie" by Don McLean. I have a very fond memory of me and TJ when we were about 8 and 10 in the car singing along to this song even though we didn't really know the words and thought it was just a really long weird song. 

-SE Wagner