Graduation from Residency had been a day so far in the distance for so long, that it seemed impossible when the final details came to us about where and when it would be held. I remember the the very first day of Emmet's Residency program, because it was the day Cora was born, and we laughed at the irony of that. And then I remembered the sleepless nights of him being "on call," the girls waking up at night, the day to day trying to make it as a stay at home Mom, praying for Emmet for the strength to be able to get up and go to work at the hospital and do what he needed to do to finish his program. We learned we could only take on life with a grateful heart one day at a time despite utter exhaustion and the children made us live in the moment.
On the day of graduation, I put on heels for the first time in 4 years and a fancy dress that Emmet bought me for the occasion, and then his lab coat to protect me from Maury's spit up while we got ready. We got the kids dressed and took a few last family pictures in our backyard on Greenwood Avenue before we left for the ceremony.
It's only fitting that my parents received two of our tickets for the graduation, because they have been there for us from the beginning, through every up and down of raising a young family and chasing down the dream of Emmet becoming a doctor. And as always, they came through that night to help us watch the kids so that we could sit and enjoy the speakers and the announcement of Emmet's name and then go to the Candlewood Inn to celebrate.
I will never forget this moment, a moment we longed for, a moment to say that we made it, that he, Dr.Ferriter had chased down his dream. The sunset was beautiful, the graduates were all elated, and I was, undoubtedly, the most proud spouse on Candlewood Lake.
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