Last night Moonie and I attended the commencement exercises for the Community College of Rhode Island, which is wrapping up its 50th anniversary celebration. The annual commencement ceremony is basically a holiday, with joyful anticipation building throughout the day, people looking for help with affixing hoods to their gowns, and bagpipe players practicing in the hallway, so Moonie was all but trembling with excitement even before the procession.

Moonie was particularly enthralled with the shiny bunches of balloons, all ready for the celebration. “Balloons!” he squealed when he noticed the display.
“Those are for the graduates,” I whispered.
“Balloons,” he whispered back sadly.

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