On the Road with Dave and Pat: "It's All About Ashley"

Ashley is our Grandniece, the daughter of Bill and Angela's daughter Debbie. Ashley is also Pat's "Peanut!"
Pat and I have had the honor of watching Ashley grow from an infant to a beautiful, energetic, self-reliant and determined young woman. And, as of this past week, a graduate of Azusa Pacific University (APU) in Azusa, CA.

....... but first, we had to get on a (gulp) plane! The days before our flight were fraught with much anxiety and discussion as to what it will take for us to actually get on the plane. With great support from friends and experienced fliers we finally settled on a plan. Darlene's reassurance and lots of prayers made for a much more relaxed flight for Pat. For me, Dramamine became my drug of choice. The flights went like this.... Pat was happy talking to a zombie with his eyes closed!

As for our flight to CA... that's the only picture you're getting! We will say the two flights we took out were great and traveling 2500 miles in six hours WAS worth all the frustration. However, we never did make up the three lousy hours we lost heading west. Our "body time clocks" never changed.

All went well until we tried to find the hotel. We were lost about a block away from it. California has the most unique street names anywhere. We had to find "East Garvey North." The GPS sent us to "Garvey North." Making matters worse, the phone number we had for the Hotel didn't work! In short we finally did manage to connect with someone at the hotel for directions. We just had to endure almost an hour of frustration only to find out that "Garvey North" went onto the next block and became "East Garvey North!"

Armed with an area map we found this...

APU is nestled just below a beautiful backdrop of mountains in the city that has....

"Everything from A to Z in the USA" called Azusa.

Our six day visit with Ashley was filled with excitement. Ashley is a "whirling dervish" in a compact package whose smile is infectious. Her personality is vibrant and you can fall in love with her the instant you meet her.

I'll be posting three Blogs of our visit with Ashley. The first post being the reason we headed west, Ashley's Graduation.

We arrived on Tuesday but Ashley's Graduation was held on Saturday, May 5th.

Ashley was the perfect host and between introducing us to her roommates and friends, providing us with an awesome tour of the school and the area, she's a bit of a connoisseur of the local eating establishments. (Which, by the way, we frequented far more often than we needed to!)

Friday, was APU's Graduating Class of 2012's Convocation. We met Ashley on the West Campus for a surprisingly emotional awards event.

Sitting below some truly picturesque mountains this campus is in a striking location. The one drawback is that the smog/haze of LA is ever-present and as you'll see over the next few posts, photogenic clear days are few and far between.

Seven hundred graduates assembled in the foyer by their degree programs and marched into the auditorium.

The graduates were seated on the floor while family and guests proceeded upstairs for seating. Needless to say, unless you had a 400mm telephoto lens you'd be hard pressed to actually see your graduate.

APU is a world-class Christian School. The Convocation offered an outstanding array of speakers and music with Christian themes. The keynote speaker, T. Scott Daniels, P.H.D. provided the graduates with an energetic and rousing speech laced with relative advice, prophetic wisdom... and quite often injected humor.

(Ashley told us later, she is seated in the far section at about one-o'clock near the center aisle.)

The APU chorale group and band provided several musical selections that made many of us "fill-up" with emotion.

Immediately following the Convocation everyone in attendance was invited to the "President's Reception."

The overview of the APU West Campus. (Click on it to enlarge it.)

All too soon Graduation day was here. Reality was settling in on the graduating class. You can see it in their faces, their tone of voice and all the moving vans, trailers and STUFF that needed to be gone by Sunday all over the campus!

Ashley received several awards. She was inducted into the Honor Society, high honors in English and will graduate Magna Cum Laude. But, both Pat and I feel the award most coveted by Ashley is the "Ethernet cord" she received from the ITM students she worked with. (It's the blue cord around her neck along with the red ribbon in the photo of her above.)

In preparation for her "Big Day," Ashley and her classmate set out to "enhance" their graduation caps...

In case you cannot figure out which one is Ashley, she's not the tall one!

Ashley was required to attend an informal award reception in the "Rose Garden." The "Rose Garden" is the on-campus location for the English faculty offices.

And, here are Ashley's favorite Professors....

(Her name is third from the top.)

Soon enough the graduate candidates were called to line up for their final official event of APU.

Being an outside event, the APU Cougar Stadium was filled to capacity, including the entire athletic field.

(Click to enlarge.)

Seated in the last row on the field we waited for the processional.

First the Faculty.

Then, the graduates led by their faculty ushers.

I waited impatiently with camera ready for Ashley. Not knowing when she'd walk by or where she was, I left the camera on but pointing downward toward the shadows. Finally, she was right in front of us. In an instant I raised the camera for a full shot of Ashley... only to bring the camera into bright reflective light failing to give the exposure time to adjust.

As an avid amateur photographer it is with shame that I include this photo of Ashley.

(Wipe out! I'll regret this photo for years!)

It never mattered that we can barely see the stage. My camera boosts a measly 3X telephoto. We were at the mercy of our aging eyesight. I took photos of the speakers, etc. but many of them will only be of interest of those who knew the people on stage. We listened to every word, each note sung or played, we were immensely proud of Ashley and filled with tremendous joy just to be witness to Ashley's hard-earned reward of this day.

The Address was given by a young author the Class of 2012 sought to have as their speaker. Shauna Niequist, author of "Cold Tangerines" and "Bittersweet" just fourteen years their senior gave an exciting, upbeat, (and humorous) speech entitled, "Forces of Nature."

Many graduates read her work and commented on her lively speaking style that matches her writing style.

The well paced ceremony culminated with the Awarding of the Degrees. Thanks to the modern day cell phone, Ashley text us that she was sitting on the left side, three rows from the front. That moment finally came and we were prepared. Standing on our chairs, cameras at the ready, her name was read over the speakers. I made darn sure all was ready and I was going to take this picture whether I was told to get down off the chair or fell off it!

..... wait..... there, now....click!

(The photo had to be enlarged and cropped!)

Closing remarks were given by Jon R. Wallace, DBA and APU President. He also made note of another special event on this day, the rising of the "Super Moon" just behind and above the stadium.

In deed it was a very special event!

The Benediction was offered by the father of an APU graduate candidate. His final "AMEN" set the graduates, family and friends into a most joyous applause. The graduates, not to be outdone, set off their planned "Flash Mob Dance!"

You could feel the exuberance and profound feeling of accomplishment as family and guests sought out their graduates.