Mills Connection

This could have been posted sooner but, alas!! Graduation preparation...This is an email I received from my good friend Gloria, my "Glo-friend." I love the sense of history in this as well as Gloria's beautiful writing style. She gave me permission to post it here. Thanks, Glo.

Dearest Martha,

I graduated in 1944 from Mt, Diablo High School in Concord. It was the middle of World War II. The Principal was Bertha Romaine and the Vice Principal was Irma Bromley. These two women set me on a path of seeking the very best from life. They both loved the humanities -- especially great literature. Miss Bromley was the one who introduced me to Masefield's, "The Dauber", Brownings, "My Last Duchess", and a ton of Shakespeare.

Because I was Vice President of the Girl's League, I was privileged to go with other officers to Mills for a day of classes. One of the classes I chose was to listen to some of the writers of a radio show called, "One Man's Family"! They were women. This show was chosen by my extended family on my mother's side, to be "the" show we would all listen to on Sunday evening, at my Grandma Erickson's house.

Today, it is a genuine thrill, that I even know someone who will graduate from Mills, let alone someone I dearly love.

Martha, I cheer for you, I am in awe of you, and I will always want to follow your career and life. You have brought meaning to words, you use the perfect words to express your thoughts, you have lifted my love for literature immeasurably. I can hardly wait to join you and your family at the "Clubhouse"!

I know that this tribute to you will only be one of so many more! I don't even care that the following is trite. It fits! "You Go Girl!" Love forever, Glo

Graduation Weekend

Rather than try to post more graduation photos, I refer you to my daughter's blog, who took the best pictures anyway. Enjoy!

The Best of Gifts

My daughter, the gift of your presence for graduation weekend means more than I can begin to express. Your love is a priceless treasure--rich, beautiful, immeasurable. And the quilt! The heartfelt and thoughtful symbolism of the laurel wreath, all the love that went into every stitch. I will cherish it always.

Catching Up is Hard to Do

Graduation weekend--fantastic. Rates right up there with Chantel's wedding and Owen's and Soren's births. The day was gorgeous. The energy I felt, (once I stopped crying and before we marched) was amazing. Such an honor to walk with my good friend Sarah. And what a sweet surprise to see Larry and Clayton making their way past the line in search of me--hugs and and a last minute, "We're proud of you," before the campanile began to ring for a solid minute, announcing the approaching graduates. Chantel and Brandon had found the best seats; I got to walk right past my family and even give Soren a kiss on the way. There isn't one part of the ceremony that stands out as the best part--it was all wonderful. But I will always remember waiting for my turn to cross the podium for my diploma, looking out across the audience and seeing my family--Larry, Brandon, Chantel and Soren, Clayton, my brother Marty, Mike and Rachel, and my friend Marilyn, all smiling and cheering me on with such joy in their beaming faces. I felt so much love from them. I'm a Mills woman! A graduate of the class of 2007. Wow. A long time for this dream to come true, but worth every bit and more. Truly, I am a blessed woman.

Anonymously Successful

Well...I went to my Anthropology class last week: Magic, Witchcraft and Religion. Very interesting so far, but a girl on the row in front of me had her laptop on. Now that in itself isn't so unusual, since we're a wireless campus and students are allowed laptops for note-taking. What bothered me was her constant surfing the internet, checking and responding to email, even playing with her screen saver! I thought about leaning over and asking her to turn it off since she wasn't using it for note-taking, but I decided against that, for personal reasons. Thought she might label me the "bitchy Mom." I know I shouldn't care, but I guess I'm not the only one in my family who shys away from conflict. Anyway...I was still bothered by it the next day so I sent an email to my professor. Now for the fun part...He protected my identity, then forwarded my email to the class. Wow! Should have heard the comments both pros and cons for laptops in the classroom! I suggested they leave their computers at home, not so that the honest note-takers really would, but so the others would think twice before playing in class. I was just SOOO offended that students would spend class time like they did, oblivious to the rest of us. We're on the honor system here, but obviously, not everyone acts honorably. I mean, would you bust out your computer during a concert? or a music recital? or at a movie theater? Why, then, would someone think it's ok to do that to a professor? Granted, he didn't know about it, but others did. I thought it was highly disrespectful of others and of the professor's education.

Today, fewer people brought their laptops to class, and the ones who did sat on the back row at the teacher's direction. Then, my friend Kirsten (Clayton's friend who became a family friend and who's a student here now) spoke up and reminded everyone to make sure they were using their laptops for notes and not net surfing. Yeah! I felt satisfied, and no one except Kirsten knew who'd stirred the pot in the first place!

More Wine, Less Cheese

Rewind from yesterday's post...my daughter figured out how to upload my pictures. I wish all of you were in these! We had a great time at Lynn's party and last I heard, she's planning a beginning of the semester party as well. Keep writing and enjoy the photos.

Countdown to the Holidays

The last time I did a count-down, it was not a fun one: Chantel was moving to the East Coast. Now, however, I'm doing 2 countdowns: one til the end of this semester (14 days) and one til I hop a plane for Baltimore (21 days). I have two big papers left to write, one for my 18th Century Novel class on the book Fanny Hill which is a graphically sexually explicit and problematic text and one on post-colonial issues in African communities. I have my choice of topics to write about for both classes, but I found Fanny Hill to be so problematic, stereotyping both male and female sexuality, that I decided to sound off.

As soon as school is over, I can concentrate on the holidays. I love the lights and the music of this season. I've never been to the East Coast and I can't wait to be with my muffins, Owen and Soren.

My mom is still here. I got up this morning at 4:45 so she could be to the airport on time, but she is ill and having trouble breathing. I feel bad that she is sick, but honestly, I'm glad she is still here. I don't get enough time with my mother and the older we both get, the more I appreciate her role in my life.