In your dreams...

Conner

Keslie

There are kids all around us graduating...in robes of their school colors, with caps and tassels, with pomp and ceremony.
It's all very exciting at the same time that it is very sad.
It's all virtual except for the graduate and maybe a guy in a mask handing out a diploma from the side of the setup for the photo.
This global pandemic has forced us all to do what we're used to doing differently every year.
We still give the grads a gift.
Some get leis tied with flowers folded out of money.
Some get a sort of low-key party.
I suppose somewhere, somehow, somebody gets a car.
But it's not quite the same.
It lacks the pomp and circumstance, despite our best efforts to make it memorable and real.
Former President Barack Obama gave a good speech on the MSNBC television special.
The musical numbers on the graduation show were fun and well-done.
My husband and I enjoyed the silliness, the goofy moves and the tremendous effort that must have gone into the making of the graduation special for the Class of 2020.
But there's still some honest-to-goodness heartache.
There's still some very real concern for the losses, the people who aren't alive for this milestone, the good-byes and last months that were missed.
Over the years, we've taken it for granted that our children (and grandchildren) are born, grow up, go to school and graduate to go on to a job and/or college.
It just wasn't a question as to whether or not it happened.
You just sort of made sure the kids hung in there long enough and went to enough school to take the walk.
We had kids who tested the plan, skipped class, missed the dress rehearsal, didn't turn in that last assignment or literally missed the bus.
But every one expected to have the chance to do it, to walk across a stage and hear their name read to an audience waiting in an auditorium for the magic moment.
It was a given, a rite of passage that included those who didn't really think it mattered, those who had to be dragged in to attend.
This year, it seems pretty surreal.
It matters a lot to us all.
And suddenly, we all care.
(Here's the URL if you want to see the show: https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/-graduate-together-honors-the-class-of-2020-83504709710)