It is now official. Alma Cristina Willis is no longer a high school student! The tassel was turned, the diploma picked up and we have the photos to prove it. Onward to Georgia State University in the fall!
The graduation ceremony was Thursday at noon and the party was held on Saturday so more people would be able to come. All of Alma’s grandparents were there, along with an aunt and her family from Chicago, but the biggest surprise for Alma was that our daughter Heidi, Tim and the three youngest kids all got to be there. Actually, it was a real surprise for all four of them since Heidi and Tim didn’t tell the kids where they were going, just that they were to pack for the long holiday weekend and include dress clothes for Sunday. They didn’t know until 12 hours or so into the trip what the destination would be! Alma hadn’t seen these kids since 2010, I think, when we were still in the Wichita area working. At that time, Alma was quite a bit taller than the rest. Now, she’s about tied with Jadelyn for shortest! And if I don’t shrink any more, I’m still taller!
We had a really good time partying with all of them but then we had to say goodbye again. Atlanta traffic is awful at its best but on a holiday weekend, it can be horrific, so I’d been praying about that, asking God to give LeRoy special skill for all of that. Selfishly, I also asked for light traffic. We got up early for us this morning and were on the road before 8 a.m. This is the traffic we drove into on I-85. I don’t know about you, but I call that a miracle! The day before it took us 30 minutes to go 3 miles!
We drove in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and finally, Arkansas today. My driver said it was easy driving but I thought it was a lot of it. Being in states where the wind doesn’t blow makes it much easier to go more miles. The I-55 bridge over the Mississippi used to be part of my daily commute to and from work. I’m glad it isn’t anymore!
Tomorrow night we plan to be in Wagoner, OK visiting bus friends Bob and Sandi Gilbert and at noon tomorrow we will be eating (did you get the impression we like to eat?) with Phil and Pat Cox who we usually see in Arizona. Then sometime, we have to start watching what we eat or no one will recognize us. We’ll be in Colorado by the 2nd of June, the Lord willing.
