a beginning at the end

I promise this one won't be as "political" as the last one.

Busy busy last few days, where to begin. I have been asked to write a Graduation Reflection to share at my church's Graduation Mass, and though I agreed, I am now mulling over what I will say and where I can get enough Xanax to make me feel less nervous.

Thursday my boss at the Library let me trade my lunch break so that I could leave early to go downtown to Detroit and pick up my cap n' gown (not to be confused with like Capn' Crunch...?). I made it down to Wayne State in amazing time (yes, I speed), and was in and out with everything purchased and Graduation tickets picked up in 15 minutes--and not even the Meter whores who gave me 9 tickets in my four semesters there, were able to catch me.

Walking back to the car cap and gown in hand, in the sunlight of a mid 40s kind of day, made me feel so accomplished. There was nothing but beauty in Detroit that day. The sun lit the old buildings around me and the trees in their inner city strangeness--growing in rows--budded and bloomed, the city smells: the exhaust mingling with wafts of not-so-far-away Greektown intermingled and smelled familiar. And as I walked back to my car I mulled over the idea of "commencement" in my head. It is interesting that the word "commencement" is the name of Graduation ceremonies--where we walk in the costume of old scholars, long gowns and mortar caps--while the word itself means to begin something. My mind wandered back to the moment that I turned my last paper in; the sense of relief and the sheer exhaustion forcing me to smile. And as classes wind down for my bro A3 who will also be walking, though for Engineering and not Library Science, I think of what comes next as we commence; begin again.

Talking to my friend CJ last night I mentioned that I am at a time of my life where it feels as though there is the possibility of so much change from month to month, and reflecting on that conversation this morning I likened it to my favoriote methaphor of life as a great roadtrip. Ok, it's a little hokey, but what is life, if not a series of break-downs, flat tires, pit-stops, scenic routes, city detours...?

So, in this next leg of the roadtrip as we head towards spring and fresh beginnings, what is it that I should pack for the ride?