After a slight sad day, a smooth plane ride home, an amazing e-mail, seeing my father and animals after four days, I sit here with my laptop and a burning back and a calmer mind than before.
I've been in Chicago since Thursday and just got home today...and I'm actually glad to be home. Home is amazing. A sanctuary. A..."safe haven" if I dare to say the words Gard thought in his last moments.
Anyways, I had an amazing time while there. And the whole reason why we were there was for my cousin's graduation =) I am sooo proud of her! I practically grew up with her and as I watched all of the seniors step out onto the football field...I got all teary-eyed!
Let's take a step back.
We were worried from the moment me and my mother arrived in Chicago if we were even going to be able to attend the graduation. The graduation was supposed to be held outside, but there were clouds in the forecast, along with rain. If it was to rain, the graduation was to be held inside and only five guests per graduate were allowed to attend. I think I would have been invited to be one of those five...but who knows. We struggled with that and prayed for clear skies.
About the second day I was there, my cousin Salina took my graduate cousin to the DMV to get her license!!! Poor thing was so scared! But guess what? She did WONDERFUL! She has her license now and she can drive around legally! She's so excited! And she even told me, "Every time you come and visit, good things happen! You're good luck!" That made me feel special ^.^
The day before the graduation my cousin (let's call her by her real name, Nikki) had her graduation party. She invited about eleven of her friends and the rest of the people were family. Well...if my memory serves me right, only four of her friends showed up. I talked to her about that a little later and she said that it hurt her a lot that most of them didn't go. I can certainly tell she's growing up cause she said "I guess that shows who my true friends are..." The pain in her expression was very real...and I found myself wanting to kick her friend's asses! But...she's very right. I told her that when all that high school business is over with, only your real friends are going to stay close when everything is over with.
Besides the lack of friends, the party was amazing! There was so much family and I was able to meet and greet with a lot of them =D The food looked good...all of that pizza, pasta, and bread sticks...but I couldn't eat any. Not with my Celiac Disease. Instead, I was stuck with salad and their weird dressing xD At least I got to eat!
We went home after the party and Nikki wanted me to join her as she opened up all of her cards and gifts. Wow...this girl got so much money, it is ridiculous! But I am so proud of her! She deserves every bit of it!
The next day was graduation day and we saw a whole lot of sun! We all dressed quickly and headed out early so we could get Nikki there on time and so we could get great seats...and great seats we got!
The sun was hot at our backs, but there was plenty of cloud cover and wind. When it got time to give out diplomas, we couldn't find Nikki until she got in line. And when they said her name...we all screamed our loudest! I even clapped...and when we finished screaming for her, I found I was alone in my clapping XD Well...that was the shortest graduation I have ever been to! The speeches were super short and they were quick to call out the names. When it was all done, I was amazed and so excited for Nikki! But man..God sure was with us that day. The cloud cover had started to get worse during the graduation and we could see rain far off. And no kidding, ten minutes after the ceremony was over, it started raining!!! I've never seen so many people run for their cars! It was rather hilarious but I was running too so I could keep up with my mom x3 In the end, it was great! And I have a severe sunburn on my back from that day! It hurts real bad, but Miss Aloe Vera can take care of that ;D
On this trip, I feel like I've definitely gotten closer to Nikki. Not only to Nikki, but to everyone else. Rob actually held good conversations with me o.o and he taught me how to shoot some basketballs! It worked for a while...but not so much XD I had a little convo with Jordan. He is SUCH a sweet boy! So sweet and polite. He has a wonderful, kind heart and I enjoy his company very much. I got to talk to Michael and discuss some important topics. I liked that. He's a really sweet guy too and I hope he gets to come down here for the summer next month. And D'Angelo will always be the cutest little boy in the world!
When we left Nikki's house yesterday, I almost cried in the car. I hate leaving...so much. I love everyone there so much! I wish I could see them all more... But hey, as a little surprise, Nikki and her mother stopped by suddenly at Rob's house (where we were staying for the night) and I got to hang out with Nikki for a little while longer...I loved it. I love them.
And now I'm back to the beginning of where this long post started. It seems the beginning is an end. And I'm perfectly fine with that. I was going to watch Pathfinder tonight, but I might hold off on that. I'm tired...another day and another time, for sure.
Dear Chicago,
I love the people that you hold.
*~[Endlessly]~*
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