In the moment when one part of our life is finished, we have to ask ourselves, “What to do now with the graduation cap and gown?” For many, they will stay in a souvenir trunk or storage cabinet with your parents, until you are placed permanently in a new home. These prided uniforms will wait for you to open again, and remember.
Still, others leave in storage forever, seemingly never to be viewed. I can’t remember where the final resting place of my high school gowns occurred. I never wished to have the stuffy cloak and hat near me on a regular basis. I wonder perhaps if it was put to good use with my younger siblings or cousins in the same school. Maybe my mom kept as a piece of her oldest child whom made her proud by fulfilling the award of a diploma. I’m sure it was of some physical or comforted use another.
That said, it seemed most males and females of my graduating class reserved their first car rearview mirror for placement of their tassel and year charm. In daily drives and commutes, it was a constant reminder of that success. New roads forge to new paths, and how ironic this item is kept in a moving vehicle – on constant display. We were so proud of our high schools and subsequent completion of them. I kept this memorabilia there until I traded in that car for a new model. It was faded and definitely worse for wear. I keep it in a special keepsake box now on my dresser. With its small size and easy transport with moves, I can certainly take that with me wherever.
I decorated my caps from both my high school and college graduations. Each contained similar messages, of course, hinting that so much may change, but sometimes so little does. I have also preserved these in a small container underneath the bed for easy accessibility. Strange some times how the thought spontaneously prompts you to go through tokens of your past. While small adornments have lost its place on top, which reflected my creativity, individuality and sense of the world all. And so often, I have to pull those out to remember what a silly, immature fool I was then.
As you age, you think about these graduation gowns for sale and former classmates and the like, but with more a penchant for memory, not so much that you need to feel or dress in the regalia ever again – save for only for a costume party or Halloween. There are photos and yearbooks as well to reattach all the parts in which you may have forgotten.
No matter where you reside or length of time committed to continuation of schooling, you bring along some things along the way – hopefully not baggage – but these emotional parts with you. The actual diploma, I’m not even certain of its location, let alone the robe!
