My daughter walked across the stage at the George Mason Patriot Center today and accepted her high school diploma from Herndon High School. The grads were made up of students from both Herndon and Reston, Virginia. It was a special moment for our family and all of the other families who had a graduate cross the stage.
We spent the weekend going from party to party celebrating these young people and the completion of 
this phase of their lives. An astounding number of these graduates will go on to College, so this is not about celebrating the 'glory days' of their youth. It is truly about gathering these kids, and their families, who have been so interwoven in each others lives for 4 years and enjoying each others company.
I was thinking about why, at least in this community, the high school graduation party seems to be so prevalent. After all, most of these kids will graduate from college and you don't see nearly the number of college graduation parties. I think it has to do with access--everyone is close by and easy to include. Once you get to college it is harder to gather them from different States and even countries.
Another thought is that at this point in time, they all have the future spread out in front of them and anything is possible. No one has yet had to deal with the difficulties of getting through college; there are no academic probations, financial issues, motivation problems or lack of direction. By this time next year, some of the graduates may have stepped off of their rosy college path and be headed in a different direction--or even worse, no direction at all. But for now, all is good and everyone is successful.
So Congratulations to all of the Graduates of Herndon High Class of 2010! We are all so proud of your accomplishments and wish you great success as you move on to the next phase of your life.
To paraphrase a song (badly, I might add), 'The future's so bright, you have to wear shades...'
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Congratulations to your daughter and to the rest of the class of 2010!
It must be a proud day in the Kirby Weatherwax household!