| Yes, that is a plural "graduation" I have up there. No, I didn't have any children graduate this year...my brother Stephen seemed to have the market cornered on that one. Three of his four kids either left school altogether, off to either the working world or the military, or left high school, bound for college. I have pictures from Natalie's and Nick's graduation...none from Chris's unfortunately. There are tons more pictures of Nick's day, and that's not meant as a slight to Natalie...it's just that it's SUCH an event at West Point that I just had to keep my camera going the whole time. |
 |
 |
| Natalie went to school at Fairleigh Dickinson in Madison, New Jersey. The school's so large that they had to have the graduation ceremony at Continental Airlines Arena, the same place where the Nets and Devils play!! After watching them get their sheepskins, we waited outside in the concession area for Natalie to come out. From left to right are my ex-husband, George, Nick and my father. |
| We finally found her among all the other grads and families and had her pose with her family...younger brother Mike, Natalie, older brother Nick and mother Galina. Natalie's a soccer player (like most all of her siblings) so she painted a picture of a soccer ball on her mortarboard to help us find her in the sea of black boards. |
 |
| Natalie's Big Day - May 21, 2003 |
|
| Nick's Graduation - May 31, 2003 |
| Graduation from West Point by definition involves much pomp and circumstance. You devote a lot of time and energy to just staying in the school, much less rising to the rank that Nick did, which was 4th in his regiment (I think I have that right...even if I don't, it's safe to say he was one of the top in his class). Their last days are full of much ceremony, and I've captured just a few pieces of it here. Vice President Cheney gave the commencement address...just imagine the security they had! There's normally a ton of it at the school - with him there they'd even positioned snipers on the tops of buildings to cover all angles. |
 |
 |
| After the big hoopla and throwing of hats, we found Nick down on the field and got this family shot...Mike, Stephen, Nick, Natalie, Galina and Chris. |
| Danielle and her cadet-no-more Nick. |
 |
 |
 |
| After graduating, you go to a special pinning ceremony where you get your captain's pins, or "butter bars" placed on your new Army uniform. OK, so this isn't a shot of the bars, but it's his spanking new nametag and uniform. |
 |
| We had some spare time the day before the ceremony, so my brother David, his wife Debbi and I wandered around campus, stopping in, at all places, the military cemetary. It was actually pretty interesting and included some very famous, or perhaps infamous, names. Here's the gravesite and monument for General Custer. |
| Unfortunately, along with the famous resting sites you have the ones for those whom no one knows. That's the frightening thing about what this whole process is leading to. I'm thrilled that Nick is now serving his country, but I know the price that can be paid, and it's a sobering thought. |
 |
 |