At the beginning of the week, the weather was unseasonably warm - but the forecast was for cold and rainy weather for the rest of the week. That never happened - instead, we had unbelievably nice spring weather all week, with just some rain one night.
Trees, bushes and flowers were blooming wherever I walked.
Mr. Shadow enjoyed many long walks.
Our daughter Megan flew in from Ketchikan. It only took two days (Wednesday and Thursday) and five flights: Ketchikan to Seattle on Alaskan Airlines; Seattle to Chicago on American Airlines: Chicago to Laguardia NY on American Airlines; Laguardia to Philadelphia on US Airways; and Philadelphia to Burlington on US Airways. She was here to see our son Ben graduate from the University of Vermont's College of Medicine. Megan was also here to get her Nexus interview and iris scan - on Friday we took the ferry across Lake Champlain en route to Port of Entry in Champlain NY. The interview in Champlain went well and we made the quick jaunt into Canada to get her iris scan. We then drove back to Plattsburgh NY for a nice lunch at the Ninety Nine restaurant where we dined several times when Megan was attending Plattsburgh State (can it really be six years since she graduated from college?).
On Saturday, my sister Helen and her husband Phil drove up from Hudson MA. Their daughter Laura Mae flew in from Norfolk VA. They came to house for lunch, then went to their hotel to check in and have a short nap while Megan and I ran some errands. Ben and his wife Martha flew in from Sydney, Australia. It also took two days, but only three flights (two were very lllooonnnggg): Sydney to Beijing on China Air; Beijing to JFK in New York on China Air via the polar route; and JFK to Burlington on Jet Blue. They went home for showers and to change. We had a fun gathering at our home: Ben, Martha, Helen, Phil, Laura, the Parascandos (Bridgette, Mike, Lucas, Aidan and Julianne), Megan, Patty and me. We had pizza delivered from Leonardos, salad made by Megan, brownies made by Julianne and cheesecake made by Bridgette.
Sunday began with brunch at our house. Patty outdid herself with two baked breakfast casseroles, ham, sausages and bacon. We had muffins and croissants from Mirabelles. And Megan made a most tasty and beautiful fruit salad. Ann and Terry, Helen and Phil, Laura Mae, Martha and Ben, Megan, Patty and I had a great family time together before we all headed off to UVM for Ben's graduation.
After the nine of us got into Ira Allen Chapel, we waited patiently for the graduation to begin.
At 2:30, the processional began. First, all the faculty. And then all the students came in alphabetical order - Ben was sixth from the last of one hundred plus students.
The big moment came when Ben was called forward, announced with his awards, hooded by Dr. Ursala McVeigh and then received his diploma. He is now officially Dr. Ben Ware. (Click on the link to see the video.)
And before we went off to a superb reception at the Barrio Bakery, photos were taken of the happy graduate with family members.
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