Day of Emotions

In the sun one last time in Balboa's stadium to watch my soccer player, this time not for a game but his graduation from high school.

 Afterward Aidan and his girlfriend, Zaira, were all smiles.

It also was my oldest daughter's birthday. As I was about to leave to El Cerrito, the scary news that her little sister and her three young kids had been in a freeway auto accident. Luckily they were all okay and the boys were thrilled when the CHP gave them a ride afterward.

The cake Sarah had cooked for Laila had been ruined in the crash, so I picked up one at the last moment.

We were reunited and celebrated her birthday.

I'm back home, trying to relax after an emotional day before work at KQED early tomorrow. It's hard, frankly. There were even more moments to this day that pulled at my emotions -- all kinds of family feelings, and the nuances of helping them (and me) navigate transitions.

I guess it's good I held my emotions in check in public today. It helps that Aidan seems to maintain a pretty healthy distance from taking his graduation too seriously. But still, I remember his first day of high school so clearly, back in 2009.

Soccer is a big part of his high school story, as reflected in this blog. But also his commitment to helping other kids do better in school and his writing, including his poetry that won a citywide competition. The topic: diversity.

Today, after the ceremony, a young man with Down's Syndrome came up to Aidan and asked him to sign his artwork. Aidan did and hugged him. Later he told me he has known that boy throughout high school, and that he is a very good artist. He was one of the few students who befriended the boy, always talked with him in class, and compared their art together.

I am not sure why exactly or how it happened, but Aidan was given a special award today at graduation, the Martin Luther King award for celebrating diversity.

I'm proud of him as an athlete, and as a student, but I'm proudest of all of him as a young man who always has a big heart for others, and recognizes the special attributes of those others dismiss, overlook, or just ignore.

Congratulations, graduate!

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