The days between Prom and Graduation fly by faster than anyone ever imagines. It seems like graduation is the end-all, be-all for so long. But once it arrives, you begin to wonder how in the world time managed to jump into warp speed without you looking.
Years and years of lectures and labs, term papers and tests, councils and clubs... then all of a sudden you are sitting in a massive auditorium with 1000 other students wearing funny hats and listening to the valedictorian read "Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!" And you think to yourself, Holy Moly! I'm off and away!
In my case, "off and away" meant literally that. Not long after graduation, I would be boarding a plane to fly 5000 miles over oceans and mountains to Moscow, Russia.
But that is a story for another chapter.
Broken Arrow High School is so large that even though the school reserves the largest auditorium in the city, they still must limit each graduate to only ten guests at graduation. My out-of-own extended family easily exceeded ten, but only a few of them made the trip for my graduation, seeing as they all planned to come one month later for my sister's wedding. That was fine with me, although I was pretty proud of Joey for being chosen as one of four people singled out to sing at our graduation. It would have been fun to brag to my extended family that the handsome guy singing so well on stage was MY guy.
Instead, it would be my older sister April's turn to be on stage. She wouldn't be wearing a funny hat and tassel. She would wear a veil and she would look beautiful in it. And she would proudly hold on to the arm of her man, Tom.
Tom and April were a fun pair. They both loved the Lord and sought to serve him with their lives. They both brought laughter and fun into every room they entered. Tom perfectly spoke April's love language which, of course, was laughter. (Yes, Gary Chapman, I realize "laughter" is not an official love language, but it should be in April's case.) Tom made her laugh. They made each other laugh. They made us laugh.
I remember one particular trick Tom liked to play on my mom. Each time he would visit our house, he wouldn't leave unless he turned something upside down - a lamp, a candlestick, a picture frame - something. Often, it would be days later when I would hear my mom laugh and shout "That Tom!" while she dusted and finally found whatever it was he had upside-downed. He left his mark on our family for sure. Their wedding was beautiful and despite Tom's hints, included no formal reading of Genesis 2:25. (Look it up. You will laugh too.)
Speaking of upside-downing though, marriage really does it. Tom's and April's lives would be forever changed. In a good way, of course. Marriage is a forever commitment, and once those "I do's" are spoken, they turn a person's world upside down. At 18 years old, Joey and I longed for the romance, beauty, and oneness of a wedding and marriage, but we knew good and well it was not yet time for our worlds to be turned upside down... at least not in that way.
