This post is for those who have asked for pictures from Lydia’s graduation. It will be mostly pictures, but I’ll tell you a little about what we did. “We” means Ted, Beth, and Serena; Ben Allen and Emily; and Sarah, Rainey, and William. We all drove up together in 3 vehicles. I had the 2 back seats out in my van so I could 1) bring 2 rented wheelchairs for Ted’s parents’ use, and 2) have room for all Lydia’s stuff to vacate her apartment and bring her back home.On the way up, we were invited to lunch with our distant cousins, the Johnstons, in Florence, KY. We had a lovely time in a pleasant Tea Room. Here’s the whole gang.
After arriving, settling in to the hotel, and resting, we went to our next “invite” with more cousins. This time on Ted’s grandmother’s side of the family. (For Stephen’s children: Bommy’s sister, Day Bailey, married a Ben Logan. They had a Ben and Winford Logan. These were Ben Allen’s first cousins that used to spend a chunk of their summers at Chenoweth Farm. Winford Logan had 4 children, and we had a cookout with the 2 oldest, Win and Will, at Will and Linda Logan’s home. Will and Linda have been very solicitous of Lydia during her 4 years at OSU). After dinner, I provided the entertainment by reading a selection of letters I had found in the house — correspondence from mostly Winford Logan to Vestina and B.A. the 2nd. Winford had a keen wit, and his letters are delightful. Below, Lydia is talking to Win, and Will is grilling.
Saturday: Relax. Eat lunch out at an Asian restaurant of Lydia’s choice to ask her “graduating” questions. You know, all those pesky questions looking back over 4 years, and looking ahead to what comes next. Here, Lydia is helping us to order a selection of dishes to share.
After lunch, we stopped to see the OSU Arboretum — one of many things that Lydia had never taken the time to see while she was in school. And Sarah, Lydia, Nana, and I attended a graduation wind concert of Copland music that evening. Relaxing and enjoyable, with Cold Stone ice cream afterward!
It’s a race!!
Sunday: Breakfast, pack, check out, and get to the noon graduation along with 35,000 other people. My vehicle was fortunate to have the wheelchairs and the handicap badge, so we managed to work our way to a lot right beside the stadium. But we didn’t arrive early, so it still took a while to find a space to put 2 wheel chairs and us attendants in the stadium seating. Serena and I stayed with Emily and Ben Allen. Ted and Sarah’s family were up high in the bleachers. O.K., now I’ll stop talking, and just show pictures. According to the OSU website, there were almost 10.000 graduates, who were managed very efficiently as they went in their various lines to get their diplomas. Sarah had the best telephoto, so she went over to the other side of the stadium and got some good photos of Lydia actually getting her diploma. Excuse me, DIPLOMAS. She received TWO diplomas (Arabic and Chinese majors), both summa cum laude. She really deserved them after all her hard work!
Yes, Ben Allen actually wore that hat to protect himself from the sun! I was sitting between the 2 wheelchairs, and held a large golf umbrella to shield all 3 of us…..except when I was taking pictures.
Can you find Lydia??
Sarah captured that great picture.(above)
Packed up and pooped out! Not recovered from mono. And now I’m officially annoyed at this blog for things I can’t figure out and not leaving pictures and text where I put them!!! :-(>
The ongoing adventures of the Thomas family at Chenoweth Farm