“And there we were

standing amid thousands of parents and families

looking… watching… waiting…

to see her…

and then she was there -

a tiny speck amid the sea of black cloaked graduates.

And as she began to look around the large colliseum -

searching for us…

we waved and waved and finally she saw us…

that tiny little speck with her big smile waving joyeously back at us…

she found us…

and we found her…

our pride and joy.  

And like the 3 year old we watched in her playschool Christmas program,

her face was beaming…

just waving and smiling from ear to ear…

my little girl…

she suddenly seemed small again to me…

my little “ray of sunshine”

cloaked in black cap and gown but shining like a star

sending a beam of light back to us across that big colliseum.  

And what a beautiful,

bright star

she will be

in this big ol’ world!”

— Glenda Y White

(a poem my mom scribbled on a program booklet.)