Mum and I obviously sat on the wrong side of the room.
Fortunately, someone Mum knows sat on the right side. Claire is the one with the tiara.
Let's go two more. Two of these kids are old friends of Claire's. One of them has the inside track to be her roommate next year. For now, though, let's just leave them smiling and undifferentiated.
Next was that night's football game! Don't we most of us just ignore those half-time festivities? But they're important to the participants, not to mention their family members! Here are the girls, anticipating, and enjoying themselves as they do so. (Claire, as per one of her satirical sisters, is still wearing her sexy grandma dress.)
(Ask Claire about the adventure of that broken back button.)
These daughters, with their elderly dads (well at least one of them was elderly), then crossed the big football field one by one, 5-4-3-2-1. ‘Homecoming’ means that generations of Springvillians show up, and on purpose. It also means that at this point they cheer loudly, and seemingly quite sincerely.
That's cool!
This moment in the sun was followed by an ascent by the attendants into the bed of a vintage truck—inexplicably driven by Sarah's father-in-law, Mr. Wade Winegar. This vehicle, followed by a hot rod that carried the queen herself, then drove with slow luxuriance down that long back stretch of the track. The girls smiled and waved, and their friends cheered them on. Here's them, starting out, then finishing up:
Next day came one of those hinged, multi-part group dates. We believe there was a stint at some climbing facility, and a dip in someone's pool. Food, pictures, a dance. Youth!
Claire went with her old associate Andrew Hammond, who was apparently and quite properly gratified by the suddenly discounted dance tickets that fell on his lap as a result of Claire's being elected to the big court. Dad is recalling that Andrew is the kid who was once heard to brag about how reckless a driver he is ...
Well anyway, here they are, informally and posing, like the kids all do. Our youngest child!
