I had a good cry out this morning. With the, “Stay-at-home” orders being lifted soon, plans are being solidified for graduation commencement for Sean. They are still in the early stages but what I have learned today was then we will have a, “Socially distanced ceremony” in August. This fact made me cry. What this, “Socially distanced ceremony” will entail is to hold commencements on the football field and NOT the high school auditorium as it has always been.
What this means is that it will be outside. In August. In the heat. Having had MS for 19 years, I KNOW that I will not be able to handle that! I also think that my tears were because I have worked so hard and sacrificed A LOT to put him through 12 years of Catholic education. The commencement was supposed to be the icing on the cake! The cherry on top! We were supposed to reenact my graduation photo:
I am just about positive that I could NOT sit there and smile in the heat! My Mom saw my tears and told me that we would work on getting me there if I wanted to go. Well, OF COURSE I do! I’ve earned it! She talked about having a cooler and bringing a cooling vest or cooling beads for me.
I couldn’t think too much about this because I was overwhelmed but we have time to figure it out and in that time, I will pray for a cool day in August. It really stinks that 20 years later, it is STILL super obvious that graduations and me do not mix! But, if I think about it too much now, I will cry again…!!!
I think a lot of people are trying to put on a brave face in light of cancellations, changes, etc. due to the fact that ‘there’s always someone who has it worse’, but it’s totally okay to feel disappointed or upset about things like this! Your emotions are 110% valid, thank you for being honest and open in sharing them. I think your mom has a great idea with the cooling vest. I know there are also a number of companies that make a cooling wrap that you place on the back of your neck – I’ve used them before when hiking in hotter weather and they work great due to the fact that the neck is a key location when trying to cool down.