I WENT. I CONQUERED. I LOVED IT.

Well. Well. Well. Ain't this a kick in the ass. My kid graduated! Post graduate degree, I might add. I am sooooo damn happy for him, I can't even tell you. I just spent a fantastic week with him and it was simply wonderful. Particularly the Pinning Ceremony where my son finally became CERTIFIED. Not certifiable, mind you. Certified. BIG DIFFERENCE. As in: a Certified Physician Assistant!

I can't believe it but once again, I ventured down to Miami in the thick of summer. I could go on and on all about THAT but who has the time? In the meantime, I had great fun being with my son and I felt great pride for his accomplishment. Naturally I felt equal happiness of course, for the fact he's finally on his own, financially. But... whatever.

Granted, I was ready to slit my wrists over the length of the ceremony given there were only 47 slots for this program, but once it was over it was time to celebrate. I hosted a dinner for 12 of us that night and I was thrilled. The next evening was a quieter dinner with just 4 people. Plus I got to see my kid with his sister and brother all together once again. It's been years since we've all hooked up in once place at the same time for a totally happy reason. Anyway...

I also spent a particularly couple of fantastic days with my son taking me to the amazingly built up Art District of Miami which I definitely have to blog about at another time. I got to see friends and family. I got to actually shop in Nordstroms. And yippee... I got to eat real bagels, lox and cream cheese, hot pastrami and superb dinners. The only thing I didn't get to down, was a hard core slice of cherry cheese cake but seriously. Who had the room?? In the meantime...

As soon as I arrived, my son and I went straight to the uniform store to pick up his monogramed white coat which by the way, reminds me. He chose ME to have the honor of putting the coat on him during the ceremony and you can only iMAGine the smile on my face. See the coat up above? See the C after the PA? Yay. It means: Physician Assistant Certified! Which in turn means: this coat is longer in length than his other white coat which has an S, signifying: Student. Basically only the officials can wear the longer coats.

I took a zillion pictures and one of these days I'll upload them to a web album. Oh yeah... one of the shots will be that of a hand made, hand decorated card made by one of the hotel agents, Katrine, who was tickled pink that I had returned for yet another visit. IT WAS SO GREAT walking into the room and finding this welcome treat on my bed! 

I also took a zillion pictures of... get this!... an art exhibit that we just happened upon of my alltime favorite artist, Fernando Botero!! It was an unbelievable surprise for me which is a whole other blog altogether. Talk about timing is everything.

For now all I can say is the Physician Assistant program in no easy feat in the least. Only 50 candidates out of hundreds were selected to participate. Thus, I particularly loved all the shots that were up on the jumbo screen of the students during the entire two year program. Especially the ones of MY KID!

Oh yeah... I totally hated the shot of him working with a cadaver given I have always made him obey my law of NEVER viewing anyone who's already kicked the bucket. I did love however, seeing picts of his team winning the big national PA Conference jeopardy type bowl in Boston last March. A team trip which I'm happy to say, my son organized given he had been elected as the school representative to the American Academy of PAs.


In closing... I am SO happy I was able to share my child's success but I can SO tell you just as I told him: it'll be a LONG f'ing time before I ever see Miami again. Oh man... that city is now just way too intense for me. On the other hand... Thank you God for all the pride I felt for my son. Now... please let him pass the state exam and then help him find a JOB. Thank you God. Amen.