graduation weekend: day 1 of 3

I get a last minute, perfect single seat on the 11:40 Cornell bus up to Ithaca.

As we get closer to the school, the scenery changes. Even through a bus window, it's clear we're not in Kansas anymore.

The bus arrives on the Cornell campus around 5:15, and Alexander meets me soon after. 

We walk over to his apartment. As we stroll through the picture-perfect campus, Alexander advises me on what I can and cannot say to his eight housemates. He prefers that I say nothing beyond hello. I am on my best behavior, not even asking them to pose for a photo.  Instead, I take one of my son's senior-year house.  It's definitely at its loveliest from the outside.

I meet my mom at the hotel and unpack. We were lucky to get a hotel in town, and the Hilton Garden Inn is welcoming, with the staff all decked-out in Cornell T-shirts. The school colors are everywhere. I packed well, only bringing the clothes I expect to wear — no more than one option for each day. My mom, because she drove up, has clothes for every possible weather contingency.

We walk to the restaurant (Fine Line Bistro) where we are having dinner, and find Alexander waiting for us. 

Dinner is great. And my mom shows absolutely no wear from her long drive, by herself, from the Cape. She is 85, but everything about her says years younger.

After dinner, Alexander and I sit in the lobby of the hotel and talk for a bit.  He says, "Academically, I may have done better at a smaller school, but I wouldn't have had the same kind of college experience as I've had here. I absolutely loved my four years at Cornell." And I can see in his eyes, and in his smile, that he is happy — proof that the decision he made  four years ago was the absolute right one.