Pomp and Circumstance #TBTStories

In honor of graduation season, today's Throwback Thursday Stories post is a continuation of my last #TBTStories post featuring my three high school besties, this time, at our graduation. Yes, you're reading that correctly, we graduated in 1978. Hard to imagine it was 36 years ago! I know it's cliche, but time does march by quickly, through hills and valleys, trials and triumphs, joys and sorrows. The four of us in that picture have grown through many of the ups and downs of life, and though we thought we were pretty smart back then, with age comes wisdom (hopefully, at least), and we have lived long enough to gain a few pearls along the way.

In 1978, though, we were busy celebrating birthdays at Pizza Hut after ball games, singing all the words to Cold as Ice, driving around in my little green Vega, attending overnights and FCA camp, watching Saturday Night Live, and listening to the Bee Gees, the Eagles, and Dust in the Wind, with a little John Denver mixed in. We played our guitars at camp and campfire to Homeward Bound, Stairway to Heaven, and Pass it On. We brought those guitars to the Senior Banquet to share that we, "don't know much about history, don't know much biology, don't know much about a science book, don't know much about the French I took." (Thank the dear Lord there's no video of that!)

We would spend the summer preparing for the move to college in the fall, packing our stereos and sweaters, posters and popcorn poppers, our cushioned lap desks and laundry bags, a few photos from home, and a bundle of memories tied up in our hearts and minds.

While Jan, Ann, and Amy were the youngest in their families, I was the oldest, and the first child my parents watched walk across that stage in the high school gym on a hot day in May. The photo below shows me with my mom and dad, and my brothers, Ted and Michael. Quite the stylish family, huh? Lol.

Each graduation is an ending and a beginning, filled with pride and possibility. We couldn't know then where the path ahead would lead, but we believed that with friends, family, and the good Lord, we wouldn't walk that path alone. And we were right. 

When you walk through the storm,

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of the storm,

There's a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of the lark.

Walk on, through the wind

Walk on, through the rain,

Though your dreams be tossed and blown,

Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone.

~Rodgers and Hammerstein

Linking up with Jessica at The Mom Creative, for Throwback Thursday Stories. #TBTStories