The Pinning

Nathan just finished his last semester of school! He has an Associates Degree in Nursing. EITC only does the formal boring forever-long graduation once a year (in May) so the Nursing Dept decided to host their own pinning ceremony for those graduating this semester. (The school pays for a pinning ceremony in May, but the students and faculty had to pay for this one themselves.) On December 9th we met at a local middle school (cheap facility rental) to see Nathan get pinned. Long ago nurses used to get "capped" with their little white nurse hats, but out of respect for the increasing number of men entering the field, it has become a pin.

Nathan asked me to pin him. We walked across the stage while a large picture of him in his scrubs was displayed on the screen, and one of his teachers read a statement he had prepared. (Okay, so I wrote it.) In it he thanked me, his family, his boss and coworkers, and "Dr. Pepper, who helped him through many a late-night study session."

They gave each nurse a little lantern and talked about Florence Nightengale, the "lady of the lamp" and the legacy she left to nurses. Then all of the graduates read the Florence Nightengale pledge by the light of their lamps . . . which was a really neat idea, except that they weren't bright enough, so everyone ended up squinting at their papers and mumbling.Pretty funny.

Then we went to the cafeteria for cake and punch. Annalee decided that the cute little lamp must be for her. We were so happy that so many of our family were able to come support Nathan. His parents came all the way from Oregon, and his sister Tara rented a car and drove up from Utah. We know the rest of our family was there in spirit as we received many well-wishes and congratulations from everyone else. Annalee and I were there too, of course.
This was the best picture of me. Sad.

My awesome parents came too and had the foresight to take pictures. My brother Steven video recorded the whole thing.

We went back to the house and stayed up late visiting and enjoying spending time with Nathan's family. It was a wonderful day; such a rewarding climax to 4 very long years!