My what interesting times we have lived through. This morning we had a parade honoring our graduating seniors–they drove through the campus with their families, in their decorated cars, recording on their phones and taking selfies, while we waved, clapped, cheered, and made lots of noise.

I did not expect how this would wreck me emotionally. First, I noticed that the more decorated a car was, the more verklempt I became. It’s like, you’ve had all the pomp and circumstances of this rite of passage taken from you. Your prom. Your spring sports. Your Odyssey of the Mind competition (okay, I mean my Odyssey of the Mind competition, but still). And this is what you get. Driving through campus in a car your parents attached balloons to, no hugs, no handshakes, but for all that, even as it seems inadequate, it is festive. I don’t know. I feel very strongly every which possible way.

But also, tomorrow I’m attending a celebration of life for an alumn, a kid I thought the world of, gone much too soon. And I saw these kids being driven past, sitting with their torsos half out the window, laughing and waving, and I saw him in each of them.

Life is short, and capricious, and we spend too much of it judging, angry, fighting. Give somebody a hug, when you can.