Lifestyle
Thursday June 10, 2021
Disclaimer: This column is the opinion of Publisher Wade A. Thibodeaux and may contain subject matter on a variety of topics, but usually contains humor of some description. An occasional serious thought may be thrown in to entice the reader to think.
I reached a milestone this past weekend. My youngest graduated from High School. Little did I know 19 years ago when I made the comment that it would be a race to see which happened first, her graduation from college or me signing up for Medicare that mine and her world would be much different in these 19 years. Within just a few hours of her birth, neither college or Medicare was the objective. She was fighting for her life in Texas Children’s Hospital and all I could do was pray for just the next hour to go better. She eventually won the initial battle and was discharged from TCH on Halloween day. The next few years provided additional struggles that involved countless doctors appointments, some medical procedures, another almost two week hospital stay with a round of pneumonia, and eventually things started to level out and she became stronger medically.
Things were going along pretty smoothly for her and she was learning to cope with her disabilities, and we were learning how to do things as well to accommodate her needs and I got a divorce. Now, Annie is living in two houses basically as she is shuffled from house to house on alternating weekends and she just goes with the flow. This scenario rocks along for a few years and we start to see a few changes in Annie. Some of the changes seem to be somewhat normal as in the onset of teenage years and some can be attributed to Annie figuring how to play her parents against each other so that Annie gets what Annie wants. Her Senior year is just an outright struggle to get her through the process as she has an extremely bad case of senioritis and I’m not certain that if it hadn’t been for Covid-19 and the alternative remote learning platforms that we would have actually made it through
the year to graduate. Regardless, we made it and we were pretty much ready for graduation. The night before graduation, Annie has a complete meltdown and I’m not sure that she will even walk across the stage the next morning. Now, this is where it gets interesting. I’m legally divorced, but I will never be completely separated from my ex wife because of Annie. My ex and I have our moments of disagreement, but we have always been able to set aside our differences for the benefit of the kids. We had been in communication all week in preparations for this graduation ceremony and all of the logistics that came along with it. I will be the first to admit, I don’t have a clue about how to do hair and makeup and how to color match shoes to the jewelry and all of that girly stuff. We had made plans to meet at a neutral location on the way to the graduation venue so
that my ex could put the finishing touches on Annie before she walked into the graduation ceremony, but then at 10:00 pm. the night before, everything changed. Annie’s meltdown called for a drastic change of plans and I went to bed that night with the plan of my ex being at my house at 6:00 am the next morning to help Annie regroup and get through this process. Thankfully,(Much credit to my ex) everything went smoothly and uneventful as the girls gathered in An-
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nie’s room the next morning and selected clothes, shoes, hair devices, and whatever else was needed for the day. Annie was in a much better mood and we all ended up at the venue looking presentable and ready for the day. I was able to get Annie situated and then was able to turn my attention to my job of taking pictures and covering graduation for the paper. Annie, as she has always been able to overcome obstacles, handled the ceremony like she was an old pro and even
though she was one of the first to cross the stage was right on point as she accepted her diploma from the Principal while shaking his hand and then proceeded to each stop along the way, shaking hands or taking a picture, whichever was required. It’s been a crazy ride, but I wouldn’t change it for the world......unless I could make it better for the kids. Congratulations, Annie......you made it. Till next time, I’m........Wade in the Shade.
