After the dinners and awards in the last couple of weeks, the actual ceremony was anti-climactic. A crowd in a hot coliseum. Some gold and maroon balloons. Some chanting toddlers. Graduates ready to move on move on move on and party. Parents ready to go home and collapse.

Perhaps there is only so much good-bye we can stand.

We are all, each one in this family, each in our parallel endings of roles, jobs, semesters, high schools, ready for what’s next.

The transition so much happier than the anticipation.