Owen volunteered to play in the jazz band before his promotion ceremony!
I love that he was able to walk with his good friend Lucas…
And Anna (as school board president) was able to give him his diploma!
And then it was off to our celebratory dinner at The Chocolate Sanctuary because it’s closing soon! Of course I forgot to get a photo of our whole group but I did get a picture of my chocolate strawberry martini!
Owen and Evan had a game afterward and Tom and Owen had to leave right from graduation.
As a school board member, Anna was able to hand her kids their diplomas.
Think you could endure OCS?
By graduation day, each candidate has racked up an average of 122 hours of physical training, 52 miles of hikes, 77 miles of running, 640 pull-ups, 50 rope climbs, and 1350 push-ups. In addition to all the marching and PT, the candidates also complete 200 hours of classroom instruction and 453 hours of practical application. This summer, 1971 candidates began this training program, but only 1589 were able to complete it.
The following pictures encompass the long weekend we spent in Quantico, Virginia, for Tom’s gradation from OCS. Our itinerary included Family Day (Thursday, 9 Aug 01, 1400), the Graduation Parade (Friday, 10 Aug 01, 0900), and the actual Graduation Ceremony (Friday, 10 Aug 01, 1400). Tom also took some pictures of the barracks for us.
The graduation ceremony itself was quite long…but it was definitely worth it to see Tom graduate! People in attendance included Tom’s mom (Marsha), my mom and stepdad (Jean & David), my dad and stepmom (Mike & Linda), my grandma and her husband (Ruth & Howard), along with Kate, Don, and Angela (see right). We are extremely excited that all these people came to share this day with us!
Kate had always told Tom that she would make it for his graduation—wherever she was living at the time—so she drove up six hours from Louisville, Kentucky to keep her promise! Don and Angela, two very good friends of ours, drove down three hours from Traverse City! We both feel very fortunate to have great friends like this!
In the process of reorganizing my website (9/5/2012) and seeing what I can get rid of or merge, I ran across my graduation page with a note saying “Details will be added at a future date.” It’s been 15 years…I don’t think it’s gonna happen. B)
