While I was amazingly excited to graduate, I think I was most focused on the party later that evening. We invited family, close friends, my thesis director, and former students to join in celebrating this academic feat. Susan and Jerry were gracious to host the party and my mom was ever thankful, especially considering she had only known freedom away from her high school students less than 24 hours prior. We raced from the noodle kitchen to Friendswood, eagerly anticipating the chance to greet our first guests. We were surprised when we arrived to know that Dr. White and his wonderful wife, Doris, had already arrived! Aside from being a literary genius and giant, he is a kind and compassionate teacher, a man with whom I always felt encouraged throughout my thesis journey. I was so delighted they were able to come. We were also surprised by the fact that they brought a gift for little Sadie! A wooden puzzle train that she begin to investigate immediately.
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| Sadie unwrapping her gift from Doris and Dr. White |
Not moments after we had said our "hellos" and "how are yous," more friends and family came pouring in. Looking back at the pictures, I cannot believe how God has blessed James and I in the past 6 years of our marriage. To think of how he has grown our family, friends, and multiplied love in ways we never could have imagined. From Mimi and Paw Paw being able to show to Leslie and Steve playing with Sadie to Grant and Jill driving from their glorious new home (in HOUSTON, yay!), I am still struck with the blessings present in our lives.
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| Ross, Katy, Collin, Sara, and Bill |
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| Uncle Steve and Aunt Leslie playing with Sadie |
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| Grant and Jill Hill - our newest Houstonians! |
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| Good friends! To think we all started in a newlywed/engaged S.S. class! |
One of the advantages to graduating around Christmas time is the beautiful decor present inside and outside of homes. Susan's home was no exception. Her tree was lit, Santas proudly displayed, and for the first time this year, Jerry helped her hang twelve special bells in the entry way. After being married, Susan and Jerry received one silver bell every Christmas from Susan's grandparents. So each bell represents a precious year she had with them while they were still living. This was the first year she chose to display them in this way and they were not only beautiful, but functional as well, as Sadie enjoyed asking any adult nearby to hoist her 23 lb body up into the air so she could "ring bell!!!"
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| I love you, Su Su! |
Without a doubt, Dr. White's presence at the party was one of the most exciting gifts I could have received. I admire him so much and am so thankful that I was blessed with an academic mentor who is so personable and authentic. I was touched when Doris gave Sadie her gift of the wooden train, but even more surprised when he pulled out gifts for my mother, Susan, and myself! He wrote me a note in classic Dr. White handwriting to explain his gift that we will certainly treasure each year at Christmas from now on:
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| Opening my snow flake (look at Sadie's face of awe!) |
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| Sadie playing with the tree ornaments in her festive red attire |
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| Mimi and Paw Paw |
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| Dr. White and William Boatman (Research Librarian at UHCL) |
One exciting surprise for my mother was Michael Glazner coming to the party. As he is a talented photographer, he always enjoys playing with my moms many cameras and expensive lenses. She was able to be in several shots while he conquered to aims: playing with the camera and capturing some smiles from friends and family celebrating that evening. My mom stopped to pose in front of one of her many decoration creations - a gold capital "M" and "A" (get it? M.A.?). Each letter had countless Mexican American author names written down to represent all the stories, people, and beautiful diversity that went into the creation of my thesis. The title of my thesis was "Traversing the Border of Two Cultures: Redefining Mexican American Narrative."
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| Mom |
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| Christy and Izelle Saldivar |
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| Doris and Dr. Craig White |
Besides Dr. White, the other guests of honor were five students I taught during my time at Chavez High School. Although it has been years since I have taught there, I still feel a connection to that school and these extraordinarily special students, many of whom I had the privilege of knowing and teaching both their junior and senior year for AP English. I wanted to invite every one of them, but instead chose to select a few students who really opened up to me about their culture, inviting me to events at MECA, sharing stories of immigration, or making me feel welcomed into what I consider my very own secondary culture.
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| Gilbert Gonzalez (quoted in my thesis - now ENG major at UH) |
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| The whole gang |
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| Flowers from my mom |
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| Owl decor (previous gift from Granny) |
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| Austin and Katie enjoying a cup of joe |
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| Granny and Leslie |
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| Granny meeting Dr. White, the celebrity of the evning |
Although my students would have probably preferred a remote corner of the home to open their gifts, I didn't even consider it in my excitement. Instead they sat comfortably in the kitchen and opened individually wrapped copies of my thesis. I had each wrapping stamped with their name and each thesis copy spiral bound. They chuckled (probably out of nervousness of being asked to open a present in front of friends and family), but seemed absolutely delighted with the gift. Dr. White enjoyed watching them open it and after looking over Fezz's shoulder onto the dedication page - which also included a handwritten dedication to each student from me - Dr. White then offered to sign all of their signature pages! One by one each former student passed their copy to Dr. White as he signed away, making their thesis copy now seem somewhat more valuable and precious.
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| Individually wrapped copies of my thesis |
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| My OBVIOUS excitement about this whole unwrapping business... |
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| Dr. White, reading the dedication page over Fezz's shoulder |
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| Dr. White signing each thesis signature page |
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| Deep in conversation with Dr. White |
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| Michael Glazner, dear friend |
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| Doris and Dr. White |
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| The original Chavez trio :) |
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| Aunt Leslie and Uncle Steve - always there to support me! |
Before the party was over, we decided to capture a picture of all the former students together again with their theses. We joked as my mom snapped away on her Canon about how they should smile and whether or not Elo needed to put on his serious face for this "amazingly awkward" picture experience.
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| Fezz (Victor), Elo, Gilbert, Hamon, Sonia, and Adrianna |
The night was wonderful. While I still may go back for more school down the road, this is it for a good while as James and I focus on our family. I was so thankful for each person who showed and reminded of all the precious memories, friends, and experiences I have had up to this point. I do miss teaching, and while I will not miss the constant feeling that I should be working on my thesis, I know I will miss the frequent conversation and visits with Dr. White. However, as James and my father explained, this is just the beginning in the next chapter of my story, and I cannot wait to live it out...and then write about it later. Discere est vivere.
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| A master class party |
