After Graduation

There were three events that took place after leaving the auditorium that afternoon.  The first was returning the cap and gown we wanted to get rid of "as soon as".  I remember being herded into a room where the articles were collected.  The boxes the caps and gowns came in were to be thrown out, so I decide to keep mine for posterity.  At this time Bev and I exchanged gifts.  She gave me a cassette tape titled "Now and Then" by the Carpenters.
  


An appropriate gift at the time, and something I still treasure. But there was one last request from a now former teacher, Ms Cynthia Brash, which came in way of a donation. The donation was to the Alumni Association. Not wanting to ever forget this moment, I mustered the five dollars and paid my dues for the lifetime membership. It was an amount well spent, as I still have my card.

 


What followed was dinner with my family, the second event. But right before the dinner I was notified of an all night graduation party that was to be held at Castle Lanes, a bowling alley in San Francisco.


When I turned to ask my father for permission to go, I saw a $10 bill waving in his fingers indicating that not only could I go, but that he would pay for my admission. I can't remember if I was with my Bev at the time, nor can I remember if the two of us were at dinner together. But I remember we somehow ended up together later that evening for the third event, spending the night at Castle Lanes.