Last night, Rick graduated from high school.  There were times when we wondered if this day would come.  But for all the struggles with homework, Rick has been a fair student.  He loves to go to school, so getting him up and out of the house was no problem. Just doing the homework was quite the struggle. 

Gotta say, the kid is smart enough.  He can pass a test and pull out the grade.  Just seems easier to do all the work and make sure you have an A or B.  Not that he worried much about it.  Now a big sigh.  We are done with that part.

Rick has decided to go on to college.  But do you really get a choice these days?  Everyone wants the piece of paper.  He really wants to do Graphic Design and that is where his talents lie.  His plan is to get a minor in Computer Science and put the programming with the design.  I hope that makes him marketable in the real world of jobs.  Either way, he needs to go out and do what makes him happy.  After all, it’s not really about the money if you don’t like what you are doing. 

So the first two years, he will go to McHenry Community College.  That’s the local college here.  I figure the first two years I can pay for here.  Then he plans to transfer to Northen Illinois University in DeKalb, IL.  This is about an hour from our house.  We visited there last October and he really liked the campus. 

From there, I hope he finds something he likes to do and can take it on like he means it.  Not all jobs are great when you start out and you have to take things just to figure out what you want to do.  If it includes some creative and artistic, I think he’ll do just fine.

Since we had a couple of extra tickets, Barb and her daughter, Gracie, came out to watch Rick graduate.  Barb, Rich, and I all worked together in the early 90s and we’ve stayed friends.  Our kids have grown up together.  Gracie graduates in 2 years.  Thanks for joining us, Barb and Gracie.

So pictures from last night.  We sat at the top of the bleachers just so we could see.  The camera allowed me to get some fairly good photos and then I photochopped them.