The story I most want to tell right now is about your graduation. I feel horrible that I'm missing it, and I feel even more horrible that you told me not to come. This must be weird, for you to read, since you're the one asking me the question, but I really have been thinking about how much I want you to walk. Especially with your brother and his situation, and your dad and his situation, and your grandma. I just think it's really important. I know you don't feel very close to Fordham or to the Bronx campus, but I really think you would regret not walking. I for one never had a graduation to walk at, and neither did your father. Even though the plane ticket will probably be expensive I think it'll be worth it. As a parent, this is all I want. Imagine one of your papers or projects, but one that takes 20 years to finish, and in the end, you don't even get to see what grade it got, you don't even get to turn it in. That's exactly how I feel (although I want you to know that you're not being graded).
Aside from that, I don't have a lot of other stories. That's the thing I'm most thinking about. I know it seems casual for you, it seems expected for you to graduate, but for the rest of your family, that hasn't been a given. I mean, I guess there are other things. Your dad's cancer. Your brother is getting his GED, but you probably already know that by now. Even though it seems small, it's a big deal to me. It's always been a big deal to me. Watching you go out and do things.
~Katharine