Tenacious graduated Friday evening and the event was uplifting. This was the fourth ceremony we attended in as many years, so I was expecting it to be somewhat anti-climactic.
When you are the fifth kid in line, the novelty of such occasions tend to wane and family attendance starts to thin out. When JayWon and Perfecto graduated we had a huge gathering of friends and family. This year though it was just B2, Adie, and myself. Two of our kids were away at college (JayWon and Perfecto), while JayToo was working on the Cape. She’s a serious and responsible kid, and didn’t feel comfortable asking for a day off on the first week of her job.
The night was one of those perfect northern New England evenings in June, reminiscent of the one idealized in the musical “Carousel”. The air was crisp, there were no mosquitoes, and the tall blue green pines that circumvented the football stadium beautifully framed the speaker podium and the graduates.
Perfect weather in New Hampshire is as rare as it is unpredictable. When it dovetails with a special occasion, it makes a lasting impression.
The student speakers complimented the physical grandeur of the occasion. Their addresses reflected poise, maturity, intelligence, and wit. One of the girls who sung the “Star Spangled Banner” was the cute co-ed Tenacious “dared” as a freshman.
It reminded me of a pre-9/11 moment that is still etched into my mind. It was in central New Hampshire in late August 2001, and I was attending a softball tournament at St. Anselm’s College, where JayWon was competing.
The reason the night was memorable owed itself to a strikingly beautiful rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” sung by JayWon’s teammate and pitcher. The girl, slight in frame, sung it solo without any instrumental accompaniment, and without the strained pop-vocal theatrics that we hear nowadays at professional venues. She sang it with perfect pitch, purity, and reverence. When she finished people were visibly moved and stunned. Parents of the opposing team shook their head and laughed, “I hope she doesn’t pitch as well as she sings.” (She pitched very well, but lost in the tournament on a heartbreaking error in the outfield. She and JayWon would continue to play together and win the high school state championship two years later.)
I knew I was in experiencing one of those idyllic moments where everything in America was perfect. I also knew that it was transient, although I could not imagine how soon things would change.