My older son will be entering high school in the fall. It seems to be the norm these days that 8th grade graduations are big affairs. The school had a formal ceremony where the kids dressed up, walked up to receive a certificate when their name was called, and wound their way back to their seat with moms and dads lined up at the receiving end to snap a few photos.

At this age, my son hates having a fuss made. He moves quickly at the sight of a camera. Instead of getting a photo of him passing through the receiving line, my camera’s delay resulted in a photo of the back of the lady next to me standing up.

One of my friends, who has three sons, had a pithy comment at the end of the ceremony: "At this age, the boys are boys and the girls are women." 

I snapped this photo of my son and his friends at the reception afterwards. Enough said.