Generations of Gamecocks

This past Saturday was a big day. Huge. My baby brother graduated from the University of South Carolina.

It could have been a big deal because of the simple fact that my brother was up early, really early for him, at like 8 am, to attend his commencement ceremony. It could have been a big deal because of the incredibly boring successful commencement speaker from JP Morgan *yawn*. (But, this was definitely not it...not when the girls' private school, Columbia College, had our former president, Bill Clinton, speaking...especially not with the innumerable jokes that go along with the irony of old Bill speaking to all those women...)

But, seriously, this was a major deal. Not because he's the first in our family to get a degree from USC. Nope. But, because he isn't the first in our family to get a degree from USC. On this Saturday, my baby brother became a third-generation Gamecock. My Popa was the first to receive a diploma from the best university in the state way back when in 1950. My dad and mom followed suit some thirty years after him. And, now, 30 more years later, John Wesley has earned a bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina. 

So, my parents and I got to see my baby brother put on his graduation attire. We got to see him place on his finger the same gold ring that my Popa placed on his own hand 62 years before and wore with pride until he passed away. We got to see him walk across that stage, honoring the culmination of hard work and years of determination. And it was a big deal.  

And, we are all so proud of him. Congratulations, John Wesley!