The Debut of the Daft Scotsman

A few posts back I alluded to a very special event that happened in our family…Caleb’s high school graduation.  Several families in our church had children that would be graduating this year so we all decided to do a combined ceremony and celebration. These are a fun bunch of young people!

(From L-R)...Caleb, Jonathan, Jesse, Eshte, Jessica, Bijou, Stephanie, and Emily

We broke down all the aspects of the day and had each family take responsibility for just one aspect.  This worked out really well.  It helped each family to not feel too overwhelmed and just to focus on the particular details of their portion.

Our family was responsible for the specifics of the ceremony itself.   Eric and I had some ideas about how things might go and flow, but we also wanted the input from the other families and the graduates themselves, if they had specific things they wanted included.

The graduates would be sitting on a stage facing the guests.  Thinking through how to get them from the foyer of the church to their seats,  I thought it would be neat if they entered to some music.  Of course, "Pomp and Circumstance" was an obvious choice, but one of the graduates, who happens to be Caleb’s best friend and a very gifted musician, had another suggestion for a song, “Thor Kills the Destroyer”.    YIKES! But if you could hear the music without the title you would agree, it was an amazing symphonic piece and was the perfect entrance music.

Another idea one of the graduates had was that each graduate, when they walked down the isle, would present a rose to their mother and a card to their father. 

He's a natural in a kilt

The ceremony began with an opening prayer by one of the fathers.  Then each graduate spoke giving a tribute to their parents – thanking them for their love, support, sacrifice, and tears in raising and schooling them.   It was so touching.  Each graduate spoke from their heart and articulated their thoughts so well.  Truly, a proud moment for all the parents!

opening prayer

Caleb was last to speak and made quite an impression on several accounts!  First, with his debut of his kilt.  He looked sharp.   He turned a few heads.  Secondly, he began his tribute with a Scottish accent.  I’m sure that many guests who didn’t know him, thought he was straight from Scotland until he switched to his American dialect and introduced himself.  Lastly, as he neared the end of his tribute,  he began to cry.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.  There are not words adequate to describe how proud Eric and I are of him.  

The switch from Scottish to American got a laugh

tearing up

us too!

After the graduates' tributes, our Pastor gave an inspiring and insightful charge to them.  The fathers then presented their graduates with their diplomas. 

Pastor Cary's charge to the graduates

"Congratulations, Son"

"I'm so proud of you!"

A well-deserved diploma

The graduates sang a group song called “A New Generation”.  Caleb accompanied on the guitar, along with Jesse on the piano.  That was a little nerve-racking for him, but all his practice paid off.   It all sounded wonderful!

Singing "A New Generation"

After the ceremony,  the graduates had a receiving line in order to meet and greet the 300 or so guests that attended.  Everyone enjoyed lovely light snacks and cake.

We all had hoped and prayed for a sunny day, but the Lord allowed “liquid sunshine” that day.  The elegant display of food was under cover and the people just kept on visiting in spite of the showers.  It really was a lovely day from start to finish.

A very special detail for us was that Gramma Barbara and “Uncle” Bill could attend. (I know, weird spelling, but it’s how we’ve done it since the kids were babes.) They literally blew in the day before and left that evening.  Short and sweet, but so special.   It was the only family who could physically attend, but we know all the thoughts of those who couldn’t were with us that day.  

Uncle Bill, Caleb and Grammy

Proud parents!

The whole family + Grammy and Uncle Bill

Group hug

 

What’s next for Caleb?  He will be attending The Guild through Lamplighter Publishing.  It’s a week-long discipleship/internship that will take place in New York at the Mohonk Mountain Resort.   When he returns he’ll search for a part-time job and begin studying topics for which he can take CLEP tests for college credit.  The first test he’ll probably take is Interpretations of Literature.  He is a bit of a literature fanatic (specifically, Shakespeare) so studying for that one should be pretty easy for him.   

He is a fine young man and so much fun, we (kids included) are glad that he’ll be home for a couple more years.

Brothers and best friends

Caleb - June 30, 2012