A week ago Sunday, May 8, was one of those days you remember. Our youngest son, Matt, finished his four years at Wheaton College, with quite a flourish.
As a high schooler, Matt decided he wanted to pursue being a part of the US Army. He worked towards and won an ROTC scholarship to Wheaton. He spent four amazing years growing in stature, understanding and leadership. All of that was culminated when he took his oath of office and became a Second Lieutenant. It was a very special moment.
Swearing InThe ceremony also included the traditional "First Salute", the first time an enlisted man or woman salutes the newly-minted officer. Matt asked his brother, our oldest son David, to offer the first salute. David, even though out of the Army for 2+ years now, dug out his dress uniform with full sergeant stripes and offered the salute.
After the commissioning at noon, Matt and his 10 fellow new officers had to hustle across campus to line up for commencement at 3pm. The 600 undergrads filled the stage and the event had all the pomp expected of such an occasion.
Commencement StageMatt graduated Magna Cum Laude, which was a marvelous honor as well. Gretchen, David and I sat there with truly thankful hearts; the match for Matt of this school was absolutely perfect. He grew so much through it.
After commencement, we got together; the smiles are genuine.
AfterwardsThe only tough part of the day was that our third son, Nathan, was unable to get time off from his job in Portland to join us, despite his best efforts. We included him on several phone calls anyway. David's wife Susan was with us on Saturday but she had to drive back home early Sunday morning as the college where she teaches had its own commencement.
If you'd like to see more photos of our weekend, I've posted about 17 pix here.
Be glad with us. It's been an amazing thing and now three sons all through college and moving on to their lives. We love each of them and are grateful for the gifts and skills they each bring to their worlds.
And each of them continue to persevere. As do we.
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3 comments:
what fine young men you have there. you must be the proud poppa indeed :-)
Congrats to Matt and your whole family! I remember you writing about taking him to Wheaton for the first time. Glad to hear it was such a great experience for him!
A momentous day to be sure. Congratulations!
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