Creighton University Graduation

We left our home in St. Peters, Missouri Thursday and drove to Columbia, which was the first leg of our journey to Omaha, Nebraska. John and I felt very bad having to place our cat in a kennel at this late stage of his life. We picked him up yesterday, Tuesday, and it did seem that the ordeal took a few more lives off his already few left for his remaining years on this earth. Now it seems that he is a bit more wobblier on his back legs. We arrived in Omaha Friday afternoon, in plenty of time for the Creighton Baccalaureate Mass. Before I go on any further, I should explain Creighton University. It is a four year Catholic university, in the Jesuit tradition. Enrollment is around 7,700 students. My brother-in-law. Charles Austerberry is a professor there. I have not attended many Catholic masses in my lifetime, but the baccalaureate service was quite up-lifting with beautiful music and an inspiring homily. Saturday, between a brunch in the morning and the graduation in the afternoon,  we drove over to the picturesque Old Market section of Omaha. In this section of Omaha there are art galleries, boutiques, specialty shops,  pubs and restaurants. We were there to shop at the Farmer's Market. Flowers especially were in demand because of Mother's Day, which was happening the next day on Sunday.

What I enjoy (most generally) when attending graduation ceremonies are the speeches given by notable personages.  The special speaker for the graduation ceremony on Saturday was CNN's midday news anchor Suzanne Malveaux. She had some interesting stories to tell from her many experiences both as a reporter for CNN and also as a White House Correspondent. She received an honorary degree from Creighton. The rest of the  graduation ceremony was devoted to the awarding of various degrees to 1,500 students. Our nephew David is pictured below, along with his parents Chuck and Gloria. They can be quite proud of what David has accomplished during his years at Creighton! He will be continuing his education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.