One Down, 3 to Go

Last week I made the trek out to Harlingen, TX to make my first and last visit to Sam's school. The airline ticket was bought two months ago, but he kept us biting our nails until the last minute on whether he would pass one last class.

The day started out with an early morning awards ceremony parade, on the grounds in front of the Iwo Jima memorial. Each company had a contingency participate, and we were told this was a traditional parade review format. Sam's here in the band (much smaller than he was used to!)

After a uniform change, which necessitated a trip back to the hotel for his belt that he forgot ("I'm done with school, I can turn my brain off now...") - it was time for the graduation ceremony. Since the weather was pushing 92, with like 85% humidity, it was held indoors. It seemed fairly short to me, probably cause we got all the awards out of the way earlier.

After all was said and done, we headed back for one last change of clothes before heading to the airport. Sam misplaced his I.D., and quickly learned that the TSA doesn't like that, especially now that you're an adult. He quickly remembered where he stashed it after I told him I would see him on the other side!

But all is good now, we are back in the land of dry heat and voluntary PT, diploma in hand.