My family of four resides in three cities across the country. My daughter’s commencement brought us together, in Ann Arbor, in the first weekend of May. I am so proud, in little less than four years of college, far away from California, my daughter graduated with an Art & Design major, and CS/Film Production minor. We invited our nanny and her husband to join us. The older gang of four arrived, on Thursday evening, to get ourselves to the best possible shape for the commencement on Saturday. My son took a red-eye flight on Friday evening, arrived in the early Saturday morning, with about an hour of sleep before the event.
Four months before
Most hotels, in Ann Arbor, were already sold out. What could I do other than picking a better one among the remaining outrageous rates? [ We were lucky to switch back to Marriott residence inn with more reasonable rates last minute ].
Two months before
My husband and I had this idea of printing out a large photo, just like what fans would do when they went to a concert. Parents are the biggest fans of their children, aren’t we? We thoughtfully selected her childhood photos so as not to embarrass her. My husband spent days to do the photoshop work. We were happy with a large collage banner.
One month before
One month before, we placed an order of graduation Forever friends bear from UK. Finally, we purchased from Amazon the book “Adulting”. And we are ready.
Day 1 (Thursday) : Arrival
We picked up a 7-person vehicle rental and had a late dinner with our daughter. The Evergreen restaurant in Ann Arbor surprised us with a pretty authentic Chinese cuisine.
Day 2 (Friday) : Campus Tour
We woke up just in time to catch the final fifteen minutes of the free breakfast, then took a dip at the hotel’s swimming pool and the jacuzzi to be fully awake. For lunch, the Songbird cafe restaurant served delicious sandwiches, soups and dessert. On a overcast day, it was quite relaxing to walk around the college campus, take random pictures of its buildings, capture its 200-years of history and its prestige. Ann Arbor is a nice college town with variety of cuisines, its tranquility and peacefulness set the stage for focused study.
Day 3 (Saturday) : Commencement Day
Ann Arbor traffic is substantially better than a normal day in the Bay Area. The only real traffic jam came only on the Saturday morning, in the shuttle ride to the Michigan Stadium, as thousands of parents flocked to attend the commencement ceremony. The stadium, with a capacity of 100,000 spectators, was more than half filled with enthused parents. It was fortunately a cool and dry morning as umbrellas, purses, and bags were not allowed. The ceremony was nicely done with short speeches from the school president Mr. Schlissel, the governor Ms. Whitmer, a few scholars and a few students, covering a diverse set of themes. With thousands graduating, the school-wide ceremony spared parents the few hours of waiting for each student to come up to the podium. Instead, the graduation was made official by the faculty dean to present the students to the school president. We took some quick pictures afterwards. In the sea of people flocking out of the stadium, most pictures ended up with some fellow students or their families in the background.
It was quite rushed to get to the afternoon ceremony organized by the faculty. The Art & Design ceremony was set in the garden quad within the faculty building. With fewer attendees, it gave a more cosy feel. The parents did not really know each other, yet the students showed more engagement and enthusiasm. Each graduate had a chance to say a few words on the podium. While the ceremony took more than two hours, it was memorable to hear from the students, and especially my own child. We took more pictures among the many other families. My daughter enthusiastically showed us around, and more pictures taken at the “studio” she has set up for her final year project. We were exhausted and exhilarated as we relaxed with our McDonald take-out in our hotel rooms. We enjoyed our graduation dinner at a German restaurant with beer, cocktail and lots of meat to conclude the eventful day.
Day 4 (Sunday) : Great Lake & Chill Out
A relative short drive to Lake Erie gave us a view of the Great Lake on an overcast day. At the pier, a few folks were fishing, and a few were taking a stroll. The water was green, deep and muddy. It was peaceful, but the Great Lake looked overlarge, and lacked human touch. We were used to the hustle rustle San Francisco Pier 39 in front of the Pacific Ocean, and this could not be more different. The nearby Gander’s Family Restaurant surely treated us with hospitality and a delicious family lunch, with delicious chicken lemon rice soup, the grilled liver, the fried Lake Erie yellow perch, the grilled Lake Erie Walleye. In the afternoon, nothing brought more relaxation than chilling out in the hotel room, doing “nothing” before we dropped our son on his flight back to LA.
Day 5 (Monday) : More pictures
Monday, most families have left town. Finally, we were able to calmly take as many pictures as we like at the different college landmarks.
And we want to catch and savor these life moments.
oliviatamccue 
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