GRADUATION

     You might wonder, how Hanah's graduation went. So far, I wrote about other things from that trip. Here goes the story!
     We found a motel in a town called Fortuna, about forty minutes away from Arcata, where the university is located. It's needless to say, we were dead tired, and my legs were totally stiff and sore by the time we arrived there on the day before the graduation. But how I felt could not compare with, how poor Roberta felt! We stopped at the motel to drop off our things and freshen up, but Roberta

refused to come out of the car at that time, and I couldn't blame her!
     We met Hanah near her apartment building. For some reason, that first day we both felt awkward with each other. She decided, I think, not to deal with it, and I gave her space. We went to have lunch, then she wanted to show us her apartment, but, as it turned out, her roommates, a married couple, got tired of waiting for us and decided to take a shower. Together.

     Besides blinking too much and too fast and a few humorous quips, I did't let Hanah understand, just how bizarre that situation seems to me! But, keeping an eye on the main goal: spending quality time together and letting Hanah know, how much we appreciate herself and her achievement, we just said goodbye there and went to the motel.
     Here Roberta had to go up the second floor to our room. With the influx of thousands of relatives for the graduation ceremonies, all the lodgings in that area were overbooked. We were lucky to find that room with three king beds for all of us.
     I won't go into the details of that night. I stayed up more than I slept because of an allergic rash. The next morning we got up early and went to the University football field, where the ceremony would take place.
     As a family we have one deficiency: we can never arrange well the way we meet with each other or do things together. This time was not different. The University very kindly arranged for all the disabled people and their relatives to take a shuttle to the field, where a volunteer would meet a disabled person and take them on wheelchairs to the special seats. Despipe me explaining this procedure to them, Taka and Sonny decided to walk up to the field instead, and so Roberta and I were seated in a totally different, but much better place than they.
     When a very nice young lady helped Roberta into the wheelchair and took off for the seats, it was up to me to carry lots of stuff and keep up pace with them. After a healthy trot, with one thing after another slipping from my sweaty grasp, I didn't care anymore, where everyone sat. I just wanted to land my own behind somewhere, where I could recuperate.

     To be continued...