Cum Laude Magnum

Hooray! Jason graduated!

While commencement ceremonies may have been a week ago, official grades were posted today, so we can announce with full certainty that Jason has officially earned his Masters of Architecture. He entered and left the University of Illinois cum laude magnum--with great praise. Congratulations, honey.

In searching for an appropriate title for this blogpost, I immediately turned to Latin. (After all, what says pomp and circumstance more than trivialized ditties from a dead language?) I originally considered Veni, vidi, vici--I came, I saw, I conquered. The verb vici tripped me up, however. Veni, vidi, vivi would be much more appropriate--I came, I saw, I survived. The final weeks preceding graduation were so horrifically grueling that endurance seemed victory enough. In the end, Jason pulled it all together at the very last moment, just as we knew he would. Needless to say, he's been sleeping much better (and longer) since.

We were extremely fortunate to have Jason's entire family come to celebrate his graduation with us. When his moment to cross the stage arrived, he was applauded by loved ones hailing from the Rocky Mountains to New York City. Unfortunately, we're temporarily short on photos documenting the ritual (our camera decided to elope to DC.) And so for laughs, I thought I'd include a few favorite quotes from the weekend instead.

***
Brooklyn and Jason are deep in conversation about his great-grandmother's immigration to the United States from Switzerland.
Jason: Grandma Heaps didn't come to America until she was a little girl.
Brooklyn: So she was a boy earlier?
***
Grandpa Charles stops midsentence while offering a grandchild some much needed correction.
Charles: You've stopped listening to me!
Susie: Did she ever start?
****
Custodian from Architecture Hall stops Jason in the hallway.
Custodian: Hey, you're the student with all the kids. You've been here forever! Aren't you ever going to graduate?
***
Yes, Mr. Custodian, yes. Miracles do happen. We graduated.