The Third Act: ROME and GRADUATION

Becky left for Rome yesterday. I said good-bye at home because Jim was going to try to go through security with her and wait at the gate and "put her on the plane," using his American ID (there are still some advantages for working in the airline industry--haha!) Remember the good 'ole days of going to the gate, saying good-bye to loved ones AT THE GATE, bringing flowers and greeting them when they arrive AT THE GATE (Ahhh Europe!)?

Arreverderci, Becky!

Well Jim's plan worked--he was able to wait with Becky. He also got a perspective of the "other side of the fence." From the termnal he and Becky saw the baggage handlers loading her suticases. The larger suitcase was loaded onto the conveyor belt twice and was dropped TWICE from a distance of SIX feet. It crashed to the ground, the strap he placed around it went BOOING, and the suticase went sliding across the tarmac. And I wondered why there was a "I HATE AMERICAN AIRLINES" website!

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Graduation for Katie went off without one single hitch. She and Jules got mentioned in Kate Stein's Student Speech at the commencement. Kate said Katie and Jules sang the song "Because I Knew You" from the broadway play "Wicked" at the Edgewood Talent Show two years ago and that the words of the refrain were truly appropriate--"because I knew you, I've been changed for the better." Now I just want to add here--that they would have never auditioned without me. They asked me to come in to the piano room where they were practicing after school and I give them an honest opinion of whether they were good enough to audition for the talent show. (They had also been practicing at our house during the previous Christmas break.) So I did. I told them they sounded absolutely BEAUTIFUL together. And that together their voices harmonized in synchrony (okay maybe that wasn't exactly the same word-but it sounds great here, doesn't it?). So they auditioned and got in!....And that made me tear up at the commencement when Kate mentioned the song and the lyrics because I remembered that individual memory...