And "there" is the occassion of my graduation from Iolani School, some 4,739 miles from where I stood today. Yes, that guy with the poofy hair is me as I graduated from high school.
Today I could not help but think about that day because our oldest daughter, Alyssa Carolyn Bicoy, just graduated from Bay Port High School.
However, before we get to the graduation ceremony, we have to talk about how the day began. We started out with a really big surprise for Alyssa.
Alyssa has her guitar lessons on saturdays. I loudly told Cari last night that we had to see our accountant on saturday. That meant if Alyssa was to attend her guitar lesson, she'd have to accompany us to the accountant's office and then we'd drop her off at her lesson immediately after we were done.
Needless to say, spending time with our accountant is not how Alyssa wanted to start her graduation day.
But in the morning, rather than go to see the accountant, we drove directly to the music store and surprised Alyssa with a graduation present. We let her pick out her own first really nice guitar.
She was so excited she almost cried!
Of course, little did I know that selecting a guitar required such deep thought...
Alyssa liked one Martin Guitar in particular...
And although we spent a really, really long time trying out different guitars, she kept coming back to the Martin...
Quite honestly, I have no idea of how one kind of guitar is better than another. But when I learned that Eric Clapton normally uses a Martin when he plays acoustic guitar - well, now that I can understand!
And so where we began is basically where we ended...
A very excited and happy Alyssa picked a Martin Solid Mahogany Guitar...
Then we rushed home, changed clothes, and ran right back out the door so she could walk to the sounds of pomp and circumstance...
Cari and I were overwhelmed with emotion but the boys occupied themselves with the sounds of beeps and chirps from their Gameboys...
"Beeps" and "chirps" - how's that for dating one's self when talking about video games. Where's Ms. Pacman when you need her?
Here is our not-so-litle girl walking across the stage...
I'll admit it. I had a few tears in my eye when they played that music. As for Cari, well, she was bawling.
It's official. Alyssa Carolyn Bicoy, high school graduate.
Wow, those 21 years and 2 days just flew by. Just look at our oldest daughter...
Oh, and the leis are from Grandma Betty and Grandpa Bernie from Hawaii...
It's just so hard to believe that our daugther is a high school graduate.
Congratulations Alyssa. It's official. Your father is middle-aged.
Let the mid-life crisis begin.
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