Magna cum laude

When she was three years old, she saw Itzhak Perlman playing the violin on Sesame Street. She stated, quite emphatically, that's what she wanted to do.

Saturday, she completed what she set out to do, graduating magna cum laude from the University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music with a degree in violin performance. She is a fourth generation college graduate. Both of her parents, three of her grandparents and two great grandparents preceded her with degrees.

I wanted to convey some kind of joy with this shot. Of the 257 photos I took on Saturday, I think this one conveys it the best. Even though you can't see my wife's face, you can see her smile in the corner of her eyes. The joy is evident on my daughter's face.

She's off to Salinas to start her job on Monday with El Sistema working with underprivileged children in the Salinas area teaching them music. I don't know if this will mature into a full-time position or not, but they apparently are working around her summer schedule quite a bit just to keep her on. She's taking a week off in July to go on a cruise to Mexico. We'll see her just before that because she's going to a wedding of one of her friends on July 7th. Her cruise begins on July 8th. She said I need to come up and visit her this summer, mainly so she can take me out to dinner once she gets some paychecks under her belt. I shall take her up on the offer. 

But for the most part, she'll not be coming back for any extended stay anymore and unless we contribute a lot to her graduate work, this year may be the last year we will be even able to claim her as a dependent on our tax returns. It's something I knew was coming, yet still hit me hard last night. She really is my "little girl" all grown up now and ready to strike out in the world. Even though she's not been here on a regular basis since last August, I shall miss her terribly.