Nicolai graduated today from Concord Carlisle High School with National Honor Society distinction. The ceremony was held indoors due to heavy rains yesterday (rendering the normal venue a soggy mess). Unfortunately, this meant that only Jeanine and I could attend (due to the seating limitation of the gymnasium) even though my mother and sister and Jeanine’s sisters and friend all traveled here to celebrate with us. The commencement speaker was one of the school’s Spanish teachers and he delivered the best commencement addresses I have ever heard. He was funny, irreverent, and connected intensely with the students. His main theme was “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained.” Two of our standard graduation photos, Maya inside the robes and parents kissing the graduate were taken before the ceremony (anticipating that Nico might return without his mortarboard).

We returned home after the ceremony to an intimate family celebration and small feast. The cake Maya made for her brother was the featured desert and was enjoyed by all.

Nicolai plans to attend the University of Miami in the fall of 2014 after he takes a gap year during which he will intern with SideStix just outside of Vancouver, Canada, travel across the US for a month, intern as a teaching assistant with Rivers and Revolutions, work as a gymnastics camp counselor over the summer, and who knows what else will be added to the constantly expanding list. Had it to do all over again, I would have taken a gap year between high school and college as well as between college and graduate school. Why rush the some of the best times of your life.