08-11 Katie Graduation

We have all raised children and wondered where all the time has gone when you see them graduating from high school. And there was a wonderful young grandchild, our Katie Clarke, now an adult, graduating from Dexter-Southfield High School in Brookline, MA, just as her brother Paul had done the previous year. Her graduation photo is a keeper.
Mary and I drove down from Canada, a two-day effort, for the ceremonies on June 5th, 2018. And like the previous year, we were blessed with good weather. At the ceremony, Katie is seen receiving a special Visual Arts award. What was amazing was that her brother received the same award a year earlier. Both children received their mother’s artistic ability.
What is so loving about Kelly and her two children is how close they are. The photo of the three of them shows a proud mother with two adult children. Paul is enrolled at North Eastern University in Mechanical Engineering and Katie is enrolled in general arts at NYU, New York. For her first year, she is going to the London School of Economics. What a lucky young lady. She may transfer into the Stern School of Business after two years.
My advice to her was to stay flexible. Changing and maturing is one of the big things that happen to you at University. Meeting people from other cultures. Being exposed to great thinkers. Understanding life and understanding yourself. Katie will hardly know herself after two years of study. I am so excited for her. She is an organizer and a potential leader no matter what career she pursues.
We spent a marvellous evening together at Legal Seafoods, a new upgraded restaurant in Brookline. The fun photo is Mary working on Katie's hair. I remember my mother saying she wished she had a girl and could help her with her clothes and her hair. But she had four sons instead.
To add to the fun, the restaurant provided Katie with a small graduation cake with a candle. Katie is looking at the cake as if it was just a bunch of calories. So we all chipped in and helped her eat it. I mean, what are families for. Congratulations, dear Katie.