We all went to #1's graduation today. Picture this: a large auditorium filled with...
...family after family just like ours!
The kids graduating are from the same 'school', but haven't met each other, and the families are from all over the U.S. One family drove in from Chantilly VA - their child decided last night at 10 p.m. that she did want to attend after all.
The ceremony was really cool, not at all like a traditional high schoool graduation. The student's name would be called and he would bring along whoever he or she wanted to give the diploma. When #1 was called, he got all of us lined up in order: #4, #3, #2, Helen, Marty (her husbnad) and finally, me. The diploma was passed down that line, starting with #4, and by the time Marty handed it to me to give to #1, most of the moms in the audience were crying. Possibly because they were afraid that we were *all* going to give speeches.
Then, I got to talk, and after that, #1. After I rambled, made jokes and nearly managed to not cry, he thanked everyone, introduced his brothers as 'The Four Horsemen' , and when he got to #4, whose name is Pestilence, the entire audience was just cackling. #4 had been a bit....#4-ish during the ceremony.
It was really cool, though, to listen to stories the other parents told, which were so similar to our family stories that it was almost scary.(Does that come close to an atni-homeschooling ad?) For meeting such a large group for the first time, feeling a kinship with these other homeschooling parents was really amazing. Listening to #1 as he had the audience eating out of his hand was astonishing, and I didn't sob out loud. It was a wonderful afternoon.
When Poe ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
Congrats to #1! I always wondered how homeschooled families had graduation...a few that live in our district attend the public HS ceremony, but not all. I think that's cool that you got to meet other families...although NONE could be just like yours! 
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