Me in my MIT Mom shirt with Michael.

Mom, Michael, Dad posing with their grandparent shirts before leaving for the airport.

The Supply Chain Management reception was held at the sailing club. It was set up outside, and was very nice. That is, until it started to rain! Everyone scurried off. Michael called a cab for us, but after we waited about 45 minutes with none in sight, I walked back to the hotel and brought the car. This time, there was a space I could pull into, so I didn't have to park on the sidewalk again. This ended the graduation celebrations. We spent some more time with Michael, Widya, Mom, and Dad that night.

She looked so good in it Michael took her picture!

 Michael with his friend, Widya. She was very nice, and continued to spend time with us, even after witnessing some "Michael harassment"!
 She really wanted to wear his cap. It took some doing, but she got it on.

The flowers were beautiful.

 Two master's degrees, and two diplomas to prove it! He even let me hold one for a minute!

 Such big smiles! Michael did it!

These are Franklin's parents. They were sitting in front of us, and we had about two hours to kill before the commencement ceremony started. We began talking to each, and I told them the story of how Michael got to MIT. They were enthralled! They took pictures of us, we took pictures of them, we cheered for each others' kids. It was great fun! No small feat for Franklin to get there, either.

Podium

Stage

All of it.

There were a few people there.

 John phoned Michael when he was in the pre-staging area, so Michael knew where to look for us. This is during the procession. Michael is in the top left of both these pictures.

And so it begins....The mace with the beaver is so cool! Beavers are nature's engineers. This is a picture of the picture on the Jumbotron. We couldn't get a good one in real life.

Mom and Dad heading back to the car.

 They made us get off the ship!

Michael had a girlfriend! When the class went to Barcelona, Michael would sometimes babysit her. They were great buddies!

They had really good food on this boat! Huge shrimp, stuffed grape leaves, huge shrimp, guacamole, salsa, huge shrimp, open bar, huge shrimp, pita bread and hummus, huge shrimp.....guess what we liked best!

I like this picture.

Just a little stormy!

 While on board, Michael and his friend received a little last minute advice from the department head, Bruce. I hope it wasn't too late. It was only about 16 hours until commencement!

Next on the agenda was a boat ride in Boston Harbor with the Supply Chain Management department.

After the DUSP breakfast, our first event, look what happened! I was busy posting on Facebook. When my friend Joanie saw these pictures, she commented, "Your parents are so cute." Mom responded with "Some people would think this looked like a funeral parlor."!

I like this sign "Future children". John took this picture for me while I walked back to the hotel and got the car. There was no easy place to stop for them to get in, so I just pulled up onto the sidewalk!

Michael joined the Students of Color group when he got to MIT. During his first year there, a friend of his in Ann Arbor died. He was very important in Michael's life, and Michael was very upset about not being able to attend the funeral due to finances and exams. The group talked to the department chair, and got Michael permission to take the exam later and the money for the plane ticket to Michigan. These three ladies are members of that group.

The room where the breakfast was held had a balcony outside of it. After the reception, we went to look at the view.

Our first event of the celebration was the Department of Urban Studies and Planning breakfast reception. I don't remember what was so funny.

Wednesday, John and I wandered around, then met up with Michael. We went to the Coop so that Michael could pick up his cap and gown, and I did some souvenir shopping. The three of us picked Mom and Dad up at Boston Logan at 3:00 p.m.  We all went back to the hotel, which was much nicer than Tuesday night, and relaxed and talked. Michael had a phone interview for a job in the evening, so John, Mom, Dad, and I walk a couple blocks to a pizza place and went to bed early.

Michael's Graduation from MIT

We left our house on Monday, June 4th, and stayed in Albany, New York. We got into Lexington, MA in time for lunch with Peter Boullata. It was a little work to find him, and we caused a bit of a ruckus in the Post Office when one of the clerks ripped a map off the back cover of a phone book for us! After lunch with Peter, we went on into Cambridge and found a "cheap" place for Tuesday night. Met Michael for dinner and some walking around.