easy on the pomp; heavy on the circumstance.

graduation. what can i say? so strange to be the ones graduating. and more importantly, leaving. i'm not sure what i expected. to be ecstatic beyond words? grateful? humbled? relieved? yes, to all of these. but there is so much more than this. i am apprehensive. i wonder how life can ever be as full and rewarding as it has been these last six years. we have sacrificed so much, and yet, we have been blessed beyond reason. we have welcomed three new children to our family. we have seen our own families grow in numbers and faith. i have come to really know my older sister. and though we are different in many ways, the traits and interests that we share make us friends beyond that which is dictated by our familial ties. as we drove away from the only home our four children have ever known, i thought, if life never gets better than this, than what we have in indy, at manchester, if we never have more money or a bigger home, i could be happy for the rest of my life. i realize now, in the face of so much change, geographical and financial, that the things that make me happy, really, deep, down, silent laughter, filled-to-the-brim happy, are the five people that i am taking with me. no matter how far we go, no matter how fast or slow we get there, no matter the size of our home, or the town we call home, those five souls will sustain me. they will always, forever always, be enough. and to the one who has made this sojourn so long, thank you. for loving me and the kids enough to get up and go to school every day for six long, long years. for wanting to provide for us. for making time for each of us and giving us the strength to pick up and leave when we thought, at times, that we could not do it. thank you. i am proud to be your wife. even more so to be the mother of your children.

congratulations dr. wall. dds. msd.

on a much lighter note, we did enjoy a wonderful dinner at a country club downtown. we arrived to find that our table, four adults and four children, was located directly in front of the podium. i mean, who does that? the kids were unusually well-behaved. i did make the mistake of wearing a dress. not so good for nursing. the dr. was good enough to send aw and bw with me when i left to feed our suckling child. as i sat on a toilet lid feeding baby g, aw pondered aloud, very aloud, "why did you take off your dress and get naked to feed the baby?" so much for keeping my indecent nursing adventure on the downlow. the food, mediocre; the water, superb. if you will recall from the two previous post-graduation dinner blogs, the beverage choices are always all you can drink alcohol and water. i could have breaststroked out of the building. (i think i made this same joke last year.) it was really nice to sit with civilized company (and my children) and celebrate mw's awesome accomplishment. the speakers were surprisingly tight lipped, for which i was very grateful. after a few photos and bittersweet "see you laters" we took our graduate home.