Branches for Wings

My baby graduated from the university this week.  I cried.  In the span from climbing the staircase with the other graduates to shuffling forward, she went from eleven months and wearing a red velvet Christmas dress with the frills of childhood to the confident young woman standing proud today.  I felt so much and all at once.  I cried.
 
There were many speeches fueling the auditorium with sentiment.  The colorful robes that most wore distinguished the stature of education.  Daughter asked her brother to tote along his Harry Potter wand so that she could have a photograph in costume since the student apparel bore a great resemblance to Hogwarts throughout.  I understood the connection and her want to lighten the mood.
 
I don't believe many noticed I was an emotional wreck because it was my guess they were feeling it too.
 
From the very beginning I read to my daughter.  There were many trips to the public library, many books lugged to and fro.  We always kept a specific number, 13, so that we'd know how many needed to be returned the following week.  At first I encouraged witches and imagination, but then she expressed an interest in earthworms. 

Earthworms, really?  Wouldn't you rather read a story about...? No?  Okay, earthworms it is then.
 
It wasn't limited to natures best compost machine, her love of science and nature has always been strong.  One year as a gift on her birthday I bought her a bird identification guide and you would have thought I had given her the moon! 
 
Daughter became my "go to" person surrounding nature photography.  I'd shoot pictures because something would strike me as visually appealing.  My daughter had the smarts to tell me why it actually was.
 
The stadium full of graduates was an amazing experience.  Each student carried a unique story of how they reached the finish line.  I can attest especially with my daughter that it was not all flower pedals and harps.  There was one point during her first year that things took a turn for the worse and it seemed as if she was about to abandon her dream.  Yes, there was a boy involved and yes, things could have completely unraveled. 
 
With every step forward the past fell away.  I remembered the wings she and her childhood friend built out of tree branches.  They climbed the pedestal of her swing set and flapped away.  Gravity won, they fell and we laughed.  I lived my second childhood with her and what we shared was an amazing gift...
 
I carried my Nikon and clicked picture after picture.  At first I couldn't locate my daughter so I took cluster shots.  What I did know is that she was late, we always seem to be running late and she texted that she was seated in the back.  Even with a 300mm zoom lens, I wasn't sure who I was photographing.  The lines of repetition were classic...so many faces that were different, so many costumes that were the same.  Graduation...the new chapter on life...past, present and future, colliding all at once.
 
There was a lot of money invested in that room.  Student loans, scholarships, grants, nest eggs and for many the pay schedule with an accumulating interest would begin in a few short months.  To be or not to be, to meet the loan payment or forfeit, to find a job or to not find a job...now that was the question.  Stress. 
 
Paying for an education is very different from when I was in school.  At one point I worked three jobs to meet the financial requirements.  In today's world, such an accomplishment is impossible.  I remember thinking how back in 1987 I didn't have much saved upon graduation but one thing I did have was beginning my future debt free.  In comparison to today's world,  less was more.
 
It really is difficult to comprehend that to get ahead in 2016 most have to take three steps back, wish for luck, close their eyes and jump! 
 
I suppose I was feeling all of that and then some as my daughter walked across that stage.  My Nikon clicked 8 frames per second and I captured the moment we had all been waiting for.  In a simple frame she carried off her diploma...the promise of tomorrow.  I cried.  Earthworms instead of stories, branches for wings, Christmas dress with white lace and leotard socks...pass me a tissue.  I took great pride in her accomplishment...my baby, as she made her way to cross the finish line!~