Graduation

Its June and everyone talks about graduation in June, so why should I be any different? Yesterday I talked about matriculation, so it only makes sense that I bring up the subject of graduation today. I'll start with junior high. 

As a kid, I was a decent student. I got a lot of A's and B's and an occasional C. Towards the end of my eighth grade year, my dad wanted to motivate me to get straight A's. He knew I really wanted a mountain bike, so he used that as a motivation tool. If I could get straight A's at the end of eighth grade, he would buy me the bike I wanted as a graduation gift. 

I worked hard and pulled off all A's...almost. I was taking the advanced math class that year, so it was a little harder than the regular class. When report cards came around, I looked at the big fat B with disgust. I showed it to my dad who came up with a compromise. He told me that he would pay for half the bike, but I'd have to pay for the other. The bike I wanted cost about $500, so that meant that the one B in math cost me $250, but I worked hard for about six weeks and earned the money and bought the bike before we left for our annual camping trip to Lake Almanor. 

A few years later when my older brother graduated from high school, my parents bought him a ring. As my turn to graduate came along, my mom asked me if I wanted a ring as well. I told her that I didn't see a whole lot of usefulness in a ring and that I'd prefer something more useful. My parents came through on that one. As I unwrapped my graduation gift I found something far better than a ring. I found wrenches. Lots of wrenches. A whole set of useful socket wrenches. I felt so sorry for my brother at that moment. I could just imagine him trying to tighten a bolt with that lousy ring. 

Then came college. Shortly after I got married in the middle of my senior year, my beloved mountain bike got stolen. Sure I'd had it for nearly ten years by that point, but it was still as awesome as it had been on day one. My wife and I actually graduated on the same day, so we had a dual party that afternoon, just before my little sister rushed off to her senior prom. The gift this time was wrapped under a blanket in the living room of my parents house. 

When I pulled the blanket off, there was a new bike, with even more modern bells and whistles than the previous one. That one lasted another ten years until I inadvertently left the garage door open one night and someone else mistakenly thought that my bike was theirs. 

Even though both mountain bikes are now gone, I still enjoy riding my bike. Last summer I bought a new one and now I ride it all the time. As for the wrenches. They're still in my garage and get used every time I find a bolt that needs tightening or loosening. One of these days I'll have to ask my brothers what ever happened to their rings.