Surreal

How can I possibly be the parent of grown people? Helen graduated from high school yesterday. The whole weekend has been lovely. My parents, one nephew, one brother (not the father of the nephew) and his wife all came from out of town. After the ceremony, we all went out to eat at a restaurant on the water. We were joined by Philip (My son - yes he even suffered through the graduation; she had to go to his!), my cousins Lynn and Dennis, and Nancy's family. Nancy is Helen's second mom and the mother of Leslie, Helen's best friend. There were 18 of us in all - it was a nice crowd.

In preparation, I took three days off of work to madly run around the yard, tearing up the gardens. The entry garden now has a rock path built with colorado river rocks and pebbles (can't kill those!), roses where the sun hits, a hugh crepe myrtle, clumping bamboo, ponytail palms, a hibiscus, ferns, aguga, impatients, and white bird-of-paradise. All the unhappy roses that used to be there have been moved to a new, sunnier spot where they will (hopefully) enjoy themselves more. Maas Nursery http://www.maasnursery.com/ and the Antique Rose Emporium http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/ are dangerous places for me to go.... The yard and entryway did look nice.

It just does not seem real that my baby is an adult and will be leaving next week already. Most parents at least have the whole summer to get tired of having them around!