Sandwiched
Noblesville High School hosted its Senior Awards Night a little over a month ago. My husband John and I were in attendance up in the balcony of the auditorium, feeling excited for our oldest son, Jonathon. See, Jonathon’s not typically in the spotlight. He’s our quiet one who mainly focuses on his studies, his work at J. Everett Light Career Center, and his Pizza Hut job.
Jonathon had won a big IUPUI scholarship along with his best friend, Ayden, and we looked forward to them both walking across stage to get that recognition. We received quite a surprise earlier in the program when Jonathon’s name was called to get an honor cord for achieving a 3.5 GPA or higher. We were so surprised, in fact, that we didn’t even have our phones ready for a picture!
Finally, after 2-1/2 hours, they announced the IUPUI scholarships … and Jonathon’s name wasn’t called. John and I looked at each other in shock. A friend sitting next to me said “Go on down and see if he can still be recognized.” So, I activated Mama Bear Mode and scooted out of the aisle and flew down the stairs. How dare they forget my boy!
Fortunately I ran into Lonnie, the wonderful school resource officer for NHS who knows me. Thanks to Lonnie’s help, I was able to get backstage to see what was going on.
I quickly found out, though, that NHS didn’t screw up … I did. Apparently I was supposed to complete a Google form in order for Jonathon to be recognized. Early May had been hellish for me with work and somehow I didn’t thoroughly read the email. Jonathon couldn’t walk across stage that evening for the scholarship.
My heart fell and tears sprang to my eyes. Somehow I managed to stumble down the hallway into the cafeteria where I burst into sobs. I texted my family to tell them to find me there. Due to my mistake, Jonathon didn’t get his moment in the spotlight.
Jonathon found me first and hugged me fiercely. “Mom, it’s okay, really. I’m fine. It doesn’t matter,” he said reassuringly. He displayed incredible maturity that evening, and my entire family made it clear that I was being way too hard on myself. I even found out the next day that I wasn’t the only one who misunderstood the email!
Fast forward to today. It’s taken me a few weeks to get over awards night but I’ve realized I’m not the Queen of Mistakes. And it doesn’t matter anymore. We had a wonderful open house for Jonathon and he WILL walk across a stage this evening, no Google form required.
I’m sure thousands of parents in Central Indiana will agree with me that having your firstborn graduate from high school brings a flood of emotions. There may be some bumps along the way like what we encountered in early May. But however imperfect the path may be, everything usually turns out well.
There are no words to adequately express how proud I am of my son today. But I hope he feels it with every hug, smile, laugh and encouraging word. I wish the best of luck to him and all the other “grads” this spring!