Spanish, and Other Lessons

I mentioned in an earlier post that I attended a graduation this weekend. MyDove's eldest was getting her bachelor's degree- I came along to hold tissues- for me of course, and maybe for Dove should the room be dusty or filled with pollen. Dove has assured me he only cries at weddings. I, a former cub scout, wanted to be prepared, should the auditorium break out in nuptuals.

Charter Oak College is a little-ish college in northeastern Connecticut specializing in distance learning (online classes) and degrees without boundaries. It seems that here folks with a variety of credits can knit them into a degree, and it really only has to make sense to the student There were a lot of original knitters there that day. As I stood in the Student Union with Dove and his "baby" I looked around at the tables filled with black robed folks and the thought occurred to me that there were an AWFUL lot of faculty attending this event. The truth became clear when the college president woke me from a devilled egg induced stupor (Sunday breakfast was a bit...free-form- as in leftovers) with the following statistic about the graduating class- 62% female and the average age-40.

Boy did I feel like a slacker. I coped and snuggled in until the announcement of the graduates. My peaceful eggy reverie was interrupted by a group of very brightly clad, enthusiastic Latinas sitting directly in front of us. They kept up a running commentary in Spanish predominantly with the jefa of the group- a beautiful dark haired girl who could not seem to keep her seat or manage to keep the bottom of her shirt in touch with the top of her pants. I saw more of this girl- and there was much to see- than most men see in a lifetime of marriage. The belt loops of her pants were adorned with rows of rhinestones that twinkled like hazard lights over the gap in her clothing. I finally decided I should get at least one photo of this phenomena- and much to Dove's barely contained hysteria, I tried. It was like attempting to capture a will-o-the wisp or an aurora borealis- like the Loch Ness monster sightings- you're just going to have to paint your own mental picture. None of the photos do it justice.

That wasn't the best part. The ladies were even less interested in the preliminary speakers than I was-except they weren't sleepy. The best part came when honorary degree recipient Diane Smith gave her speech. She is the co-host of the Morning Show on WTIC-AM and the host of something called "Positively Connecticut" as well as the author of "Absolutely Positively Connecticut". Bright, blonde and bubbly she offered a "few" examples from her book of Connecticut-ians who had passion, faith and determination. LOTS of examples. I was absolutely, positively... comatose or I might have been but for the ladies- after Diane's forth example (nuns, wooden toys for hospitalized kids and the saving of some house or other from becoming a parking lot) One of the ladies leaned to the one next to her and said in a Spanish stage whisper- "Didn't she say she was just going to do three?" her companion replied "Just because they give you a paper doesn't mean you can count..." They both cackled, but not as hard as I did. They turned to me and smiled in conspiracy. The girl with the twinkling backside opined that La Rubia (the blonde) was too skinny to go on much longer without a sandwich. And she didn't, but without the company of the Latinas and Dove quaking with laughter it would have felt a lot longer.

The second honorary degree recipient was Juan Figueroa. He was a crowd pleaser, getting everyone to applaud everyone else- (how about a hand for the parents? how about a hand for the students? how about the lunch ladies? Eek) He was a bright fellow and very personable, President of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. His mission is to make sure that everyone in CT has affordable heathcare- a good guy. He talked about his grandfather telling the neighbors that HIS grandson would be a lawyer one day. "Si, se Puede" was his grandfather's motto- "Yes, you can.". His greatest success was in oviously raising a grandson with a determined, compassionate heart.

The ladies were moved to near-silence- near, except for the one in the polka dots who asked the lady to her left (regarding Figueroa)- "You think he's married?" the lady in the sleeveless top elbowed her- "He is too viejo (old) for you- more my type" Polka dots elbowed back "YOU'RE married" . Sleeveless top replied- "Eh, things change." and smiled.

And so it continued to the end. Lani went onstage and we heeded the dean's admonition to hold applause until the end- much to her disappointment. We would've yelled Lani- the tissues muffled your dad's cheers- I swear. Towards the end of the procession of graduates a young girl in a halter top stood on her chair cheering, holding up a sign as a graduate walked across the stage. I whispered cattily to Dove- "these kids- she thinks she's at a hockey game" and scooched down to try for a few last winks before the final graduate's name was read aloud. The young woman kept yelling. I opened one eye and looked over at her. She was still standing on her seat- her male friend holding her around the waist to keep her from catapulting into the next row. "YEAAAAAAHHHH" she yelled. And slipped on the seat a bit so that her sign turned to face me.

It read "GO MOM" "We LOVE you!"

Feeling foolish much I slunk down in my seat, smiling. That was just way too cool.






The lovely (and cute) Lani Dove. Thanks for sharing this with me Lani :)

Congratulations Lani. I don't know you very well but I am certain the world is a bit brighter for having you in it. Si, se puede. Anything you want to.

:) X 29