Knowing them less

Closeness and distance aren’t opposites

Photo credit: Ellen Kreuger

We were sitting on the couch when he got the notice. No cap and gown, no pomp and circumstance. Sam read the email on his phone, then heaved the weightiest sigh in the history of sighs. The quality of satisfaction and relief I heard in that sigh only comes along a few times in life, and only then if you’re lucky.

Sam had officially graduated from college.

Though he walked in the commencement ceremony last May, he completed his coursework in December due to a semester off during the depths of the pandemic. The email notified him that the final grades were in. He was done.

I leapt from the couch and hugged him while tamping down the urge to cheer, cry, and hyperventilate all at once. Breathe, Asha, breathe. Make room. This is his moment.

I looked up into his stunned eyes (he’s a foot taller than me). “Let’s release all this ene…