Thirty-two years ago today, we walked into the coliseum at SFA as students and walked out as graduates with our Bachelor’s degree.  32 years. . .until today, when we returned to watch Daughter #1 take her turn and walk across the stage.  A flood of memories came streaming back–as we looked around, the old, aluminum bleachers had been replaced with real seats and hanging over center court was the retired number of one of the greatest Lady Jacks–EVER, Rosie Walker!  Back in the mid-1970’s, before Title IX changed the face of women’s athletics on college campuses, schools like SFA and Old Dominion dominated women’s basketball.  During our tenure at SFA, we were privileged to watch Ms. Walker play for the Lady Jacks, and they were the toast of the town.  No disrespect to the men, but the ladies drew the fans. . .and we were among them.  Not too sure what she’s up to today, but it was a trip down memory lane to see her retired number up on the rafters at the coliseum!

Watching the graduates process in, hearing the families cheering for their graduate, watching the looks on their faces when certain family members did their best to embarrass them. . .well, you can’t put a price tag on any of that.  And, it happened so fast–just yesterday, we were dropping her off at Freshmen orientation. . .moving her into the dorm. . .moving her out of the dorm and into the apartment. . .picking her up at the Boys and Girls Club of East Texas. . .in the blink of an eye, four years screamed by and now, we have our first graduate in the family.  A little proud?  Yeah, you might say we’re A LOT proud.  People congratulated us, but it’s really the kids that make this happen.  Our job is to be the guiding light, but their job is to execute the mission.  And as of today, mission accomplished!  Now, the goal becomes getting that first career position. . .patience.

Because we’re in two different places tonight. . .Jean attended a nephew’s graduation from Texas A&M, and Brian is spending the night with his Mom in The Woodlands, so Brian picked out a wine a Kroger for blogging purposes.  Acronym, is a red blend from California.   The fruit for the Acronym Red Blend comes from vineyards in California’s Central Valley.  The region boasts ideal conditions for cultivating quality grapes: fertile loamy soils, gentle winter rains, and warm days tempered by cool nights.   Acronym is a dark ruby red blend of several varietals dominated by Pinot Noir and Syrah.  A nose of red berry fruit combines nicely with hints of roasted coffee, soft vanilla, and milk chocolate. The fruit follows through to the palate with dark berry jam flavors and a touch of cedar spice. The mid-palate gives way to a beautiful, lingering finish.  At $10 a bottle, it’s probably not something we’re going to search high and low for at the store.  It’s a wine to try…because we needed a wine to blog about, but beyond that, well, there’s a lot of better wines for the money that we’d jump at before this one.

So, sitting at the computer we came up with a few acronyms…LOL, ROTFLMAO, SOS, ETA, PDQ, BFF, TTYL, TTFN…and a whole bunch of others, but no acronym can measure up to the value of a college education. . .our pride in both of the girls stems from their abilities to excel.  It’s what allows us the pleasure of reliving memories on the campus of our youth and now the campus of her future.  It’s good stuff. . .enjoy your favorite wine responsibly and remember to RWP!!