All my kids traveled to Boston to congratulate their bro, and we ate dinner with my daughter-in-law's parents in Little Italy. Desert was a walk around the North End and cannolis from a local family bakery!
Other notable events:
Rob was commissioned into the Army as a second lieutenant at a formal ceremony. The speaker noted Boston College's motto, Ever to Excel, from the 6th book of the Iliad, line 208, where a Greek soldier, Glaucus, ready to enter battle, used these words to describe what motivated his courage: "Hippolocus begat me. I claim to be his son, and he sent me to Troy with strict instructions: Ever to excel, to do better than others, and to bring glory to your forebears, who indeed were very great ... This is my ancestry; this is the blood I am proud to inherit." See Wikipedia article.
The commencement speaker was Bob Woodruff, who was almost killed in 2005 by a roadside bomb while reporting in Afghanistan. His words of wisdom, formed after 36 days in a coma and a miraculous recovery, included: Try to find and do what you love, exercise your faith, serve, and value your family and friends. He said that it was his faith, family and friends that rescued him.
The Baccalaureate mass (the farewell mass for the graduates) was also special, a lovely Christian celebration with thousands of graduates, parents and families. The psalm was particularly beautiful, and a fitting invitation to the departing class and to all present: Give Us a Pure Heart (Christopher Willcock). (hear it below)
As we returned to Chicago last night, we were tired but thankful to God for our son, his college experience, and for our family and friends who traveled to Boston to celebrate with him and to wish him well. Our baccalaureate "farewell" to his college life was a hopeful hello to his future.
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