Airing My Laundry, One Post At A Time...: Graduating From UTSA

We got the graduation program and the first thing I noticed was how thick it was.

There were over 50 pages. 50!

I flipped through it, marveling at all the names of the people graduating from college.

"We are going to be here for a long time," I surmised.

I didn't mind. Too much. After all, my son was graduating with his Bachelor's in Film & Media. (He also has an Associates in Video Cinematography.) It was a great day! An exciting day.

A long day.

Whew. I shifted in my seat, ignoring the slight pain in my left butt cheek.

Still, at least the Air Conditioning was strong.

When that familiar song came on and the graduates started emerging, my heart lifted.

It took about 30 minutes for everyone to filter in. I am not joking.

But I did find Tommy in that sea of navy blue and orange, so we waved and hooted and hollered at him. I pictured him as a little boy, having meltdowns, teachers calling me frequently. I promised--I swore to Tommy that everything would be okay, that he'd succeed. No matter what anyone said. I studied all I could about autism.

And look. Look. He was graduating college.

When his name was called, he did the dab and 67 move. He was jubilant as he crossed the stage. Maybe he was thinking about all the struggles he went through. And he persevered.

I won't even lie when I say I was thrilled when Tommy said we could go soon after he received his degree. Many other graduates were doing the same thing because if not, they'd have been waiting for another three hours.

We met him outside, and I was so proud. He did it!

And I don't think anyone will be shocked to know the spot that he picked to eat dinner.

The love for McDonald's runs in the family. What can we say? We adore the fries.

Tommy says he's slowly realizing what graduating means. No more papers. No more finals.

The REAL real world. Finding a job. His dream is to edit movies. And I know he can do it, as his resume is impressive. He's worked on countless projects.