A Time of Celebration

This past Thursday Chris, Caleb, and I headed to Wake Forest, NC to share in the festivities surrounding my brother's, Henry, Ph.D graduation from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. We are so proud of him!

We arrived at the hotel Thursday night around 10:30 pm or so and promptly checked in. I was pleased to find out that my Dad and Stepmom were just across the hallway. I knocked on their door and they came over to play with Caleb while Chris and I got settled. It is amazing how quickly a zonked out little boy can wake up to play. As soon as we were ready we got into bed because we had a 7 am breakfast in the hotel lobby. The night was rather fitful because we were in a strange place, hot, and Caleb was coughing more than usual.

We got up around 6:30 am on Friday and put on whatever we could find and headed downstairs for breakfast. It was good to see everyone before the ceremony. We then went back upstairs and got dressed for the ceremony and headed to the chapel. The weather was nice and Chris and I enjoyed hanging out until everyone else got there.

SEBTS chapel

We found some good seats and settled in until the ceremony began. Chris was so sweet in that he offered to referee Caleb during the entire ceremony so that I could sit with my family and watch Henry get his degree. We finally decided that it would work the best if he took Caleb upstairs in the balcony for the entire event. It was sweet hearing occassional noices coming from up there. In fact, at the end of a hymn we all heard little hands claaping and a loud, "YEAH!!" Everyone there laughed. I thought, "Yep! That's my boy!"

Caleb waiting for everything to get started.
Also, showing evidence of sickness.

The ceremony was very good even though I 've always had a hard time sitting through graduation ceremonies...even mine. Have I ever mentioned that I got my M.A. in Biblical Counseling from the same school? Henry was the second to the last person to walk across the stage. The only real bummer was that my camera wasn't working when Henry got his hood and diploma. Apparently, I had hit some button and that prevented the picture. It has since been fixed.

The President giving the graduation address.

One thing that was sad about the ceremony was that Henry's Mentoring Professor was sick in the hospital that morning. He has been battling cancer for a few years and that landed him in the hospital. So, the President (above) walked Henry across the stage and gave him his hood and such. He then pulled Henry back to the pulpit and told everyone the circumstances and why Henry's professor wasn't there. He also told us how he was at the hospital that morning and that the professor woke up and said, "Did Henry get through?" Wow! How special is that?! Yes, Henry got through and is now a Doctor of Philosophy in Theology.

Here is Henry in his regalia

After the ceremony we spent a good amount of time taking family pictures and talking to old friends and professors we haven't seen in about 4 years. Chris and I ran into one of my Counseling professors who also did our premarital counseling. That was nice.

Caleb getting tired of the festivities and ready for a nap

Everyone then went back to the hotel to change into casual clothes (Thank Goodness!). Caleb fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel and then we put him on the bed while Chris and I got dressed. Everyone gathered and we ate at a wonderful burger joint. Man! I wish we had one of those in our area. We went onto the mall to kill some time until the big event which was dinner at a Japanese Steak House. Caleb did a great job eating soup and rice.

As the day progressed, Chris and I were noticing that Caleb's cough was getting progressively worse. It all came to a head that night. He woke up screaming and with the worst croup I've ever heard him have. My Stepmom and I took turns sitting in the steamy bathroom with him and that helped a lot. My heart broke a little bit because Caleb didn't want to be cuddled by me. He wanted his Grammy. Whatever helped him sleep was okay with me. Chris made a late night trip to Target and bought a humidifier. I guess one good thing from all this is we have a nicer humidifier now. ;-)

The night was rough with Caleb waking occassionally either wanting to be held or just coughing. Not much sleep was to be had by anyone. Come morning I checked his temperature and it was over 102. I called the nurse and she said to go to an Urgent Care unit while still in Raleigh. UGH! My Dad and Stepmom were kind enough to stay in town while we did all this. Once Caleb was seen and given prescriptions they headed home.

Chris and I went back to the hotel, packed quickly, and headed to the pharmacy to pick Caleb's drugs. At this point we called our friends in Charlotte, NC and told them that our visit was a No-Go because of Caleb's illness. We started our journey home after Chris and I stopped by our favorite coffee shop. It was bittersweet because we don't know when we will be back to Raleigh. But, we needed to get our boy home and thus, we started our journey back to Georgia. Caleb slept the majority of the trip and that made my heart feel good. He sure needed it!

We got home, unpacked, bathed, and settled in. It was a very eventful weekend. There was celebration and sickness. But, above all it was a wonderful time with family and enjoying each other's love and fellowship. I can't wait till we can do that again! I think it might be this summer when we all gather together in the NC mountains. I am so ready for that trip.