Greetings from Rutgers University

so what does one say to a graduate anyway?  Besides "Plastics?" My heart is so filled with pride and joy..so much so that I shouldn't even bother you with petty complaints.  But of course I WILL because I'm still me!!  How the hell we got so lucky with the weather is beyond explanation, but the torrential downpour only started when we got to the car.  The rain yesterday soaked the grounds though, and my shoes were mud covered by the time we got to the entrance to the stadium..where I was promptly told I couldn't get in with a pocketbook that wasn't the size of a 3X5 card..Mine is the size of a steamer trunk, so I had to lock it up..or rather, I made Jim walk to the lock up truck.  He came back with just my wallet--which meant I accused him of losing it every ten seconds. So we're sitting there in the bleachers, listening to moving marching band tunes and still having trouble differentiating "Star Wars" from "Superman." And I suddenly realize how much I miss my Mom on Mother's Day.  She was still with us for Evan's HS graduation, but was too sick to attend the ceremony.  I was missing her, and I, a believer in only things like the flying spaghetti monster, wanted a sign that she was with me and all of a sudden I look at the sky and there among the white clouds is a massive gray one..shaped like an "E"..for Evan, and thanks Mom!  Jim couldn't get a photo in time--by the time he looked up the blue sky poked through and it looked just liked the opening to "The Simpsons" but trust me, this indeed happened! Steven Van Zandt gave the best commencement  speech I've ever heard in my life!  He made me proud to live in NJ: he made me proud to be in the same stadium as someone who convinced his buddy Bruce Springsteen not to play in any arenas where bigoted governors could profit from revenues, even if there was collateral damage.  I cried when he mentioned Rutger's most famous grad, the late great James Gandolfini.  I cried when the band played "Pomp and Circumstance" because who doesn't cry when they hear that one? So the beautiful ceremony ends, and we are both sunburned, because we hadn't thought of sunscreen, or decorating the top of Evan's cap so he could be seen, or anything that made any sense.  I needed a quick potty break and we both wanted a quick lunch, and nobody, and I mean nobody, could be prepared for the hordes of people with the same idea. I must have had intimate contact with 400 people! This event drew bigger crowds than Time Square on New Year's Eve, then the beach on a hot 4th of July weekend, then Trump's inauguration.  We waited in line for twenty five minutes for the only thing offered--undercooked hot dogs.  They ran out of them as soon as we got to the top of the line. So after bodily contact with another 100 persons, we go back to the bleacher seats, hoping to see Evan's name on the screen.  The jumbotron's names were one eighth of an inch high.  Every name seemed to have three letters in the first name and two in the second, mostly Y's and X's and Q's and Z's.  I had a sudden urge to stop looking and play Scrabble but then I saw my son's name and my son's face and felt that pride all over again! By the time we got out of the parking lot and into the torrential downpour, we decided to stop for lunch, but a pretty blonde in the car behind us had other ideas as she ran into us.  (No damage, no pain, but now, no lunch) But I won't complain..Steven and Jane and Marissa and Todd came up for a celebratory meal and Evan was delighted to have experienced this special day with both friends and family--and a very careless driver.  Time to toss my cap into the air!