It’s graduation time.  In mine and my husband’s large and extended families we have…if I have counted correctly and not left anyone out 7 graduates this go round.  Pretty impressive I think.  I almost get giddy thinking about it.  Graduations are a good thing!  We have 4 high school graduates, 1 getting an associate’s degree and 2 college graduates.  Most are going to the next step…college classes, continuing college classes, graduate school, one to Russia for a year on a Fulbright Scholarship.

My nephew is one of the high school graduates.  We went  to a luncheon honoring the graduates of his class yesterday at noon and to the ceremony last night…it’s nice when they live in town.  His sister graduated from college last week…out of state…we missed that one.( I had to take note of her as we were sitting in an outdoor amphitheater waiting for graduation to begin; she was sitting with a book, probably 500-600 pages on the life of Stalin.  She will go to Russia to teach English this fall.)  Back to her brother.  I told him the other day that he was not old enough to be graduating because that makes me older!  When he was 4 or 5 I gave him a book for his birthday.  And, the next year he got another one.  He ask me (or his mother, I can’t remember) why I always gave him books for his birthday.  I’m not sure what answer I gave him then but he remembered that and we have joked about it through the years.

You see, we are a family of readers and people who love language and words.  We have teachers and writers in the family.  There are even bookstore owners in our DNA.  I haven’t gotten him a book this go round…yet!!  One will be on the way to him soon and likely to his sister, maybe to a few of the other graduates or family members…just because.  Graduations don’t happen without books and reading.  It is always good to give a book!