Evan Graduated

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Can you believe that Evan graduated this year? How is everyone growing up so quickly? His ceremony was last Thursday. Airline tickets were very expensive, so Wednesday, after Lisa got off work, we hopped into the car and headed east. We arrived late. Thursday we all got ready for the big party.

The first thing on the agenda was to go and participate in Camerons “clap out.” The sixth graders who are leaving the school all walk through a gauntlet of family and friends cheering them on.

Kira and the mother of this little girl have semi serious plans for an arranged marriage of these two when they are older. They are pretty good friends now and they plan to foster that friendship over the next few years.

Kira had the house all decked out and everyone showed up around 2:00 (I think) and we partied until it was time to go to his graduation. Ben and his family were able to come to the party, and we played in the pool.

Lisa has been cleaning out some of the deep corners of the house and any time she comes across something that she thinks the grandkids would enjoy, she gives them to them. I don’t remember what all she gave Bens kids, but I know Jack got a joke book that he seemed quite thrilled with.

The graduation was in the Desert Financial Arena.

I wondered why they didn’t just have graduation on their high school football field like our schools do. That would save them a ton of money. We then stepped outside and the temperature was approaching 100° and I realized why.

The graduation was like any other graduation I have been to. It is long and boring except for the thirty seconds that your kid is on the stage.

After the ceremony we met up with Evan in the parking lot and took a ton of pictures and then we headed home. We hung out at the house for a little bit and then everyone drifted off to bed. It was a great day.

Friday morning Kira had plans for everyone. Brian took Evan fishing, Justin went to work, and the rest of us went to this cool mansion called The Lavender Farm.

The “Lavender Farm” was amazing. A very rich contractor built it for his family and kind of went overboard. He had a daughter and two sons and his daughter’s bedroom is called the princess room because, like any father, he had a special place in his heart for his little girl. For his boys he actually bought an old barn and made it a part of his house and that was for the boys. Perhaps my favorite room was the billiards room. It had a ton of hardwood and a railroad track that went around the room and then into the adjacent room. I think that was the library.

When Lisa’s mom died she had some of her ashes made into glass balls for the boys and necklaces for the girls. She had one made for each of the kids and for one each of the grandkids. She is waiting to give them to the grandkids until they are old enough to appreciate them and take care of them.

Evan and Lisa’s mother had a special relationship. She really cared a lot about Evan and would do special things for him. Friday she told Evan how she felt GG’s presence during the graduation ceremony and touched she was that Grandma made a special effort to be there for that milestone in his life. She then gave Evan his glass ball. Everyone cried.

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a 34 year old man ripped a hole in his throat trying to stifle a powerful sneeze

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