Step Right Up
All week Cici told me that no one was going to the awards ceremony at school. She tried to talk me out of going right up until yesterday morning when I dropped her off at school. Don't we have too many things to do this evening? She wanted to know. We have to prepare for my friends who will come to spend the night tomorrow, she continued. No one else is coming to the awards ceremony. Do we really have to attend?
This is for you, I told Cici, but it is also for Mama and me. This is a moment of recognition for you and pride for us. It is our reward for getting up and driving you to school every day, for taking you to all your school activities at nights and on weekends, and for the time we spent helping you when you struggled with an assignment. This is actually an important event for the school as well, so we should attend.
Ping and I arrived at the school about 15 minutes early. We spotted Cici near her locker and she came and joined us. She was still lobbying. I still have homework to do, she told us. And look, she said, no one is here for the awards ceremony. Why don't you study for another 15 minutes and then rejoin us, I suggested. But she had too much nervous energy, I believe. We had prepaid for the banquet that was to precede the awards ceremony so I suggested that we go in and choose a place to sit. It was a large room with a lot of tables set up banquet style. When we sat down a student greeted us and brought us some lemonade to drink. He brought a large bowl of salad for the table and a basket of garlic bread sticks.
We could see that nearly half of the tables were already occupied. Cici was surprised to see many parents and grandparents. She was even more surprised to see the classmates who had said they were not going to attend. They not only attended, but they had changed out of their school uniforms into dressier clothing. I am so surprised, Cici said. Don't worry, you look great in your uniform, I reassured her as we looked through the program. Before long, all the tables were fully occupied and there was an overflow of attendees sitting in chairs that lined the back wall of the banquet room.
I think the affair made an impression on Cici and Ping. Ping and I watched proudly as Cici walked up on stage to receive her National Honor Society recognition and sign the book that holds the names of all students from the school who have ever been inducted into the National Honor Society. As an added bonus, Cici was recognized and walked across the stage again to receive an award for being on the school's highest level honor roll.
We could never have imagined, even in our dreams, that you would do so well in school when you first arrived just under two years ago, I told Cici as we drove home. I am so proud of you. I believe I can earn more awards next year and in my senior year, she told me. Somehow I think she got into the spirit of things, and somehow, I bet she achieves just what she told me she will do in the future.
This is for you, I told Cici, but it is also for Mama and me. This is a moment of recognition for you and pride for us. It is our reward for getting up and driving you to school every day, for taking you to all your school activities at nights and on weekends, and for the time we spent helping you when you struggled with an assignment. This is actually an important event for the school as well, so we should attend.
Ping and I arrived at the school about 15 minutes early. We spotted Cici near her locker and she came and joined us. She was still lobbying. I still have homework to do, she told us. And look, she said, no one is here for the awards ceremony. Why don't you study for another 15 minutes and then rejoin us, I suggested. But she had too much nervous energy, I believe. We had prepaid for the banquet that was to precede the awards ceremony so I suggested that we go in and choose a place to sit. It was a large room with a lot of tables set up banquet style. When we sat down a student greeted us and brought us some lemonade to drink. He brought a large bowl of salad for the table and a basket of garlic bread sticks.
We could see that nearly half of the tables were already occupied. Cici was surprised to see many parents and grandparents. She was even more surprised to see the classmates who had said they were not going to attend. They not only attended, but they had changed out of their school uniforms into dressier clothing. I am so surprised, Cici said. Don't worry, you look great in your uniform, I reassured her as we looked through the program. Before long, all the tables were fully occupied and there was an overflow of attendees sitting in chairs that lined the back wall of the banquet room.
I think the affair made an impression on Cici and Ping. Ping and I watched proudly as Cici walked up on stage to receive her National Honor Society recognition and sign the book that holds the names of all students from the school who have ever been inducted into the National Honor Society. As an added bonus, Cici was recognized and walked across the stage again to receive an award for being on the school's highest level honor roll.
We could never have imagined, even in our dreams, that you would do so well in school when you first arrived just under two years ago, I told Cici as we drove home. I am so proud of you. I believe I can earn more awards next year and in my senior year, she told me. Somehow I think she got into the spirit of things, and somehow, I bet she achieves just what she told me she will do in the future.
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