Last Saturday I attended my oldest step-son’s commencement ceremony…sort of. Because of social distancing guidelines here in Los Angeles county, students were only given two tickets to commencement. Unfortunately, there were three of us that wanted to attend–my husband, my other step-son, and me. I knew it was important for my younger step-son to be there for his brother so I stepped aside.

Something that I’ve been impressed with during this pandemic, is the ways in which businesses and schools have gotten creative in dealing with social distancing guidelines. For their commencement ceremonies, Cal State University Long Beach had a live stream that family and friends could watch from home or wherever, really. They also set up several micro-stages in the parking lot where students could have their names called as they walked up on the stage and had their picture taken. It was surreal.

But all of that meant that I got to attend the ceremony…sort of. I watched the whole thing on my phone while sitting in the parking lot at Angels Stadium where it was being held. Afterward, I was able to see my step-son “walk across the stage” with a proud grin on his face. It was a different experience, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!