That's Squirrel! No it's Not...Oh Yes it Is!

TA-DA!

[see those pins? guess who had to pins those on after 4 hours sleep. not a whole lot of dexterity in the pond this morning let me tell ya']
Wallene, my beloved MIL, Squirrel and Daddy-O [FIL]
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For anyone wondering why I am posting at 1:10 pm on the day of my daughter's HS graduation it is because this morning [outside, in the bleachers, for the ceremony] was hot. Really hot. And Skippy is a wee bit worn out by all the hoopla and running around from the past week - so I begged off of lunch and the family went out to celebrate at a local restaurant while I rest my achy bones.

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Something happened at Graduation that was so unexpected I just couldn't wait to share with y'all.

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Graduation was standing room only - for 270 graduates there were appoximately 2,500 people.

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The large crowd led to an annoying problem - and to be honest? I don't know if it is cultural or that people just don't care about how they act around others anymore - but it was driving us bananas and almost led to us missing something we weren't even aware was going to happen.

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Pooldad and I were very interested in the entire ceremony, not just for Squirrel, but because we know a lot of the Seniors and we wanted to be able to cheer them on too. Unfortunately due to a lack of consideration everyone around us was chatting away during the whole thing. We were surrounded by people that weren't the least bit interested in anything that was happening - as it would [later] become clear the only thing they wanted to see was their kid walk across the stage and get their diploma.

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Fine. Just, please, be quiet while we try and follow the speakers.

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For the first part of the ceremony we could only hear snippets here and there. Thank goodness they had programs so we could follow along.

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[okay Skippy, quit yer' bitchin' and get to the point already!]

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Anyway. At one point they were handing out the three scholarships the school awards each year. We missed the name of the first recipient [and the reason they were rewarded] and heard these few words about the second:

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"flys under the radar", "always there to lend a hand", "a mentor to many fellow students" and "a friend to everyone"

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They called the student's name. Okay. Whomever. At this point I was exasperated. I couldn't hear and neither could the rest of our party. But as I watched the young lady approach the stage I nudged Pooldad and said "That's Squirrel." He replied "No it's not." but grabbed his camera to zoom in to check anyway. Then he turned to me, handed me the camera and said "Here look."

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After a good look I turned to him and said "Oh Yes it IS!" [don't doubt the Momma]

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So yeah - our baby was awarded a scholarship for kindness and goodwill to her classmates.

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I have said this a hundred times and it will always hold true for me: Forget anything else about our kids - if the only thing anyone ever said to me again was "You have the nicest kids" I would die a happy woman.

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I'm sorry - but I am still weepy over this.

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PS - Even Squirrel didn't know she was going to receive this. She is over the moon happy.