The Doctor is In

Friday I received my PharmD after nearly four years of incredible grinding.
I am the first in our immediate family to get an advanced degree. I am the fifth in the big extended Murray family to get a doctorate, and the first Beggan doctor.
The week of review and events, was hectic, but I got to see all my classmates and be with them a gain. The day of graduation was one of the most emotional of my life.
Quitting my job and going to school was like jumping off a cliff and hoping an inflatable mattress was at the bottom. (Three years later, I just landed on both feet.) While I was in school, I learned that my dad had terminal cardiac dysfunction and nothing could be done for him medically except for comfort measures. I watched a cousin dear to me slip away to colon cancer and spent as much time with him as I could manage. I saw my kids get apartments, move away and start great lives of their own. A crisis brought someone dear to me back into my life with a grievance mended. My mom had surgery requiring rehab in my second year and two consecutive severe illnesses requiring hospitalization while completing externship. And I worked part-time while I went to school because I needed both the money and the experience.
Walking across that stage with my diploma was one of the highlights of my lie and I hope I never forget that feeling. When I saw my dad afterward, I just started to cry and couldn't stop.
Now I have a new job, a new car, a new life with great new friends. My graduation party was Saturday (and we did have a keg as long promised). Friends from the old neighborhood and the new, family and coworkers, friends I made in school, and friends from my rotations all mingled in and out. Kate and Ditto and I cleaned the whole house. Dan did an awesome job of cooking on the new grill. The boys fetched, carried and served. And when things died down, we hung in the yard and got eaten by mosquitoes and laughed all night.