Class of 2010

I spent Memorial Day weekend in Oregon to attend my dad's girlfriend's son's graduation from Linfield College.

(If my dad marries his girlfriend, Pam, this kid will be my stepbrother. It helps to think of it that way.)

I had never visited Linfield before, even though one of my closest friends from high school went there. It's a beautiful, small college in McMinnville, and I couldn't get over how gorgeous the campus was.

I could totally imagine sprawling on the grass under these peaceful trees to study.

Although we had peaceful trees at UW, too, but I never sprawled under them. Or studied.

But that's beside the point.

Pam snuck onto the softball field for a photo op. She found some abandoned gear in the dugout and went to town.

I just worried that we'd get yelled at for this and surreptitiously took photos from the bleachers. I've always been nervous about breaking the rules, even if rules may not even exist about this type of thing.

It's really helped me stay out of trouble. For the most part.

We also happened upon a sculpture and had to have some fun.

Again, attempting to steal sports equipment. I think I was sweating at this point.

There must be others out there like me. I need Goody Two-Shoes Anonymous.

The whole sculpture depicts various students in different stages of education. The students who have just started college look more like lumps, while the student seen walking away is fully formed. "The finish of the figures symbolizes how learning helps refine and complete a student," says the plaque.

I really love plaques. Something about the permanence of them and all the thought and effort behind them makes me misty-eyed.

It was only a year ago that I graduated from college, so it was strange to see someone else graduate knowing that that exciting time in my life had passed and would only get farther and farther away in my memory.

But it was also thrilling to be there to celebrate Kenton's accomplishments with his friends and family, and to watch him prepare to embark on the next leg of this adventure.