We dropped Kiki off at the Metro early in the morning so she could make her way to her 11 am flight. She had a nice day lobbying in DC, I told her I was glad someone was lobbying because I have no time to lobby and that she was welcome to come lobby as much as she wants to.
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Today was Edda’s 8th grade graduation. I invited Ning (Edda’s morning caregiver) and Adriana (Edda’s M & T night caregiver) to come celebrate because Jeremy’s out of town and I needed support. Adriana also brought her beau to the celebration. I was quite touched that these folks came, though I still missed having Jeremy with me. Vince initially resisted coming today, but he proposed a deal. He wanted a boxed sushi lunch he could take to school in exchange for attending. I said – sold! He also, after some cajoling, agreed to accompany Edda onto the stage to help her get her awards and diploma. It was a mixed morning regarding my feelings. I didn’t realize that this was a special needs graduation, I thought it was the entire 8th grade graduation (the school must have hundreds of typical 8th graders). On the one hand, the special needs graduation was kind of lovely, they spent five minutes talking about each student and giving awards and everyone cheered for each kid. This would have not been possible at a typical graduation with hundreds of students. On the other hand, I was fully expecting a total 8th grade graduation with the special needs kids tucked into the procession. Would that have been better? I dunno. I’m also trying to decide if the wording of the speeches at the beginning and the end of the ceremony changed ever so slightly from a typical graduation or if the words aren’t really different but they take on different shades of meaning when presented in this situation. What does it mean that they are now ready to have a “successful high school experience”?
Edda was quite charming on stage, though she was skeptical of the photographing afterwards. I’m forever grateful for Mr. Twigg who taught Edda all three years at Cabin John.
