Graduation!

It was graduation at Pepperdine, one of the remaining throwbacks to medieval Europe visible in America via institutions like the university. Actually, not much about college these days reflects medieval learning, but rituals like cap & gown, regalia, the march (my former employer - UPS - featured scepters with an incantation!) have universalized while trivializing medievalism in contemporary society, almost entirely bereft of ritual otherwise; the content & context missing, formal meaning alone survives.

Tom Reilly & Stuart Davenport before the faculty procession.

Personally for us, this meant the passing on of our Lausanne students we befriended three years ago; sophomores we inherited from parents have now entered another level of independence.

Liz

Tyler found me afterwards, before heading back to Maryland.

Elle's family with Erika

"Go Waves" (Pepperdine's sports motto)

The next day, we held a graduation party for Elle, Erika, Jeff, & JoAnne and their families. Jenny made an absolutely delicious double-layered, cake,

then was enlisted in wonton frying duty.

It was a nice mix of church folks, whom Elle - off to Boston L'Abri - has gotten to know - entire strangers to each other, really - but the mix worked beautifully.

Jordan and Chris of GRC (Grace Reformed Church)

David wore orange in honor of Pepperdine (a not-so-closet Syracuse fan)

Dan catered the event: smoked brisket, chicken, orzo salad, etc.

JoAnne - frequent babysitter - occupied young ones with an improvised scavenger hunt

before heading home to Coeur d'Alene, ID.
The Baldwins we'd met in Lausanne, except the grandfather.

Carolyn and James

The Freemans from Vermont

+++

We look forward to seeing where these young folks will be a couple years from now, but am amazed at how much impact we've all had on each other; maybe the impersonal institutional setting (Pepperdine) heightened by the low social capital of Los Angeles intensified things.

My beautiful collage was a surprise parting gift for getting tenure, given immediately following graduation. ADIEU derives from "I commit you to God," relativizing farewell to a temporary state. How else do we make sense of these bonds and photographs, already marked by time?