Theo has good memories of Mom's graduation

It was really important for me that my entire family attend my medical school graduation back in May. I really had this vision set in my head, that I would walk across the stage, look out in the audience, and see them all cheering me on. Maybe even I would hear somebody yell, "Mama!" It didn't end up happening that way. I remember walking across the stage, barely paying attention to the deans who were trying to congratulate me, because I couldn't find Theo. It turns out that Theo had been taken out of the auditorium and was out for pretty much the entire thing. I did leave instructions beforehand that it was okay if he left for a few minutes, but I really wanted him there when they awarded the diplomas. I was pretty devasted when I found out. Both of my children were born while I was in medical school, and I felt like that graduation ceremony was for all of us, and he didn't deserve to miss it.

The reason I am typing about this now is, Theo has been repeatedly showing me how important that day had been to him. For example, in our graduation ceremony, I had the privilege of singing the national anthem with four of my classmates. Since graduation, Theo has really been trying to sing the Star Spangled Banner. One time in the car, he asked Ted and me to sing it over and over, and you could tell that he was trying to learn it. He almost has the whole first stanza memorized now. Also, a few days ago, he came up to me holding a book flat on his head like a mortar board and said, "Mom, look, I am the graduation man."

Theo didn't even know how much I ached in my heart over the whole thing. I really didn't think there was a whole lot that could take the sting away from the memory. But to me this is something like a miracle, like God working through him to heal me.

I hardly had any pictures of Theo and Ruby on the actual day of the ceremony, so the next day before I returned my cap and gown to the school bookstore (yup, I paid over $60 and all I got to keep was the tassel), we took some extra pictures.