We just returned from an extended weekend in Atlanta, Georgia to help son Isaac (and Ricci) celebrate his graduation from Candler School to Theology. He received his Master of Divinity, and we are very proud parents. Here is a little blurb from the Candler web page article:
Candler conferred a total of 147 degrees this year, which included 89 Master of Divinity, nine Master of Theology, 14 Master of Theological Studies, five Master of Religion and Public Life, three Master of Religious Leadership, one Master of Divinity/Master of Public Health, one Master of Theological Studies/Master of Public Health, two Master of Theological Studies/Juris Doctor, 22 Doctor of Ministry, and one Doctor of Theology degrees. - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/releases/2017/05/candler-celebrates-sends-forth-class-of-2017.html#sthash.MbFCHow6.dpufIsaac will now be pursuing his doctorate at Emory's Laney Graduate School. He will begin this coming fall.
It was a beautiful weekend in Atlanta for graduation - which took place on Monday, May 8th. The day started with the Emory graduation around 9 am. We then attended a luncheon at Candler, and the seminary held their ceremony in the afternoon. It was nice to meet some of Isaac's friends and teachers for the first time. They were both very nice ceremonies.
THE TRIP -
Jane and I drove down and back. We left Friday after work and went as far as Dayton, OH. That took about 2 hours and we thought that would give us a head start on the next day. What we didn't think about was that it was also graduation weekend in Dayton, so we had a little trouble finding a hotel room. We ended up getting the last room at a pretty nice place and spending way too much, but it was nice to only have an 8-hour drive Saturday from there to Atlanta. We came back yesterday, so it was basically Saturday evening through Tuesday morning in Atlanta.
We were glad daughter Carrie was able to be there too. She flew down Saturday and left Monday evening. That was a long time for her to be away from the kiddles but it was nice having the family together for a few days.
The three of us stayed in a dorm on the Emory campus. It wasn't exactly 'home' but it was super convenient for the graduation festivities. Isaac and Ricci's house just has one bedroom and it's a bit of a drive from the campus. Plus traffic was just a little insane all weekend. Actually, Atlanta traffic in general is pretty insane to us!
Logistically, we took route 33 from Fort Wayne to I-75 through Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee and that took us all the way there. It is 648 miles and takes right about 10 hours one way. Saturday it rained most of the way - especially through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee. That was not a pleasant drive. Coming home Tuesday was much better with just one little bit of rain around Cincinnati. There was less road construction than I expected, and other than a couple of accidents holding up traffic on the way down it was a pretty good trip. I definitely prefer this route to going through Indy, Louisville, Nashville and Chattanooga. Dayton and Cincinnati are the only two cities you go through and they're both pretty easy to maneuver.
There is a ton more I would like to include, but basically just wanted to get something down to commemorate the occasion before time slid it away. Hopefully I can add more thoughts and memories later. It was a good weekend and we feel pretty blessed. Here are some more random pics:
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| All of us at the Emory graduation. |
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| The happy family before the Candler ceremony. |
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| Isaac receiving his diploma. |