Joel Graduated!

Date: May 12, 2007
Place: Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

Joel and I traveled up to West Lafayette to meet Joel's parents and brother Travis and attend Joel's graduation. After a busy week trying to finish up our grades and pack our house, we arrived in Lafayette Friday night. Silas and Marsha (Joel's parents) told me I was boss for the day (Saturday) and I was responsible for making sure Joel was in place at the right time and we had good seats for the commencement exercises. Well, as most of you know, I never pass up the opportunity to be the boss... so I ran a pretty tight ship that day! The good news is that Joel was in place with plenty of time to spare and we were in line early enough to push our way to the PERFECT seats! For those of you unfamiliar with Purdue University commencement exercises, seating is open -- no assigned seating. So, everyone has to line up until they open the doors and then we push to get to our preferred seats. It reminded me of a rock concert! Anyway, the ceremony was wonderful -- the speeches meaningful and short, the choir and band inspiring and in-tune, and the graduates handsome (see enclosed picture) and orderly.

After a few hours of pictures around campus (the weather was beautiful-- sunny but not too hot!) we joined our long-time friends for a wonderful celebratory meal at our favorite steakhouse, Mountain Jacks.

It is hard to believe our time with Purdue is over -- we are both officially Drs.! We leave with much gratitude and excitement. Our years at Purdue were thrilling, stressful, challenging, and happy. We made life-long friends, discovered the depths of our own creative and mental abilities, and met each other. Not a bad six years! All Hail Purdue!