Long Journey

Dr. Robert Shaw had just been introduced.  He was to give the commencement address to the Old Dominion University’s Class of 1988.  As he began to speak, my mind began to wander.  I remember hearing him say that it was great to be an American, and that graduating from college was a major event that may happen only once in a lifetime.

I would be leaving in eight hours to return to my home in Bosnia.  My greatest desire was to take advantage of any opportunities that I would find in the modern projects which were under construction all over Sarajevo.  However, before I left, I needed to finish packing, and say, “Goodbye!” to my friends.

It was really hot at graduation!  I saw Mike’s parents sitting at the back of the audience.  There were not enough seats.  There must have been three hundred or more people standing! The speaker finished, and the dean said a few words.  I wish that I had kept my mind on the ceremony, but I missed my parents.  I wished that they could have been present, but I knew they were proud of me.

Lena, I could think of her all the time.  She had a small, beautiful face, and a slender body.  Her eyes seemed to dance when she smiled.  She was petite, only five feet, two inches tall.  She was intelligent and talented.  Sometimes I wished that I had gone to the University of Sarajevo so that I could have been near her.  In July we would be married, and then we would be together forever.

Mike shook my arm, and said, “Pete, Pete, let’s go across campus. It’s time for diplomas to be awarded.  Come on, boy, this is it, we’re graduating!” I joined Mike and his parents.

Mike was the son of Senator Michael Brockwell and his wife, Mary.  Mike  graduated with a major in political science, and a minor in government politics.  We had been best friends since the afternoon that he picked me up at the airport while I was standing in the rain waiting for a cab.  That was my first hour in Norfolk, five years ago. We had really bonded, and I felt very privileged to have been accepted as a member of his family.’

I was told that three hundred and fifty students were graduating.  By the time we arrived across campus, several of the professors were on the stage, preparing to present the diplomas. Senator and Mrs. Brockwell had found comfortable seats near the front.

Dr. William Whitehurst was presenting diplomas.  He was a retired Senator and a former professor at Old Dominion University.  As each graduate crossed the stage, Dr. Whitehurst shook his and hand and presented a diploma.  After each person received his diploma, he was joined by family and friends as he left the stage.

I felt somewhat lonely.  I would celebrate with my family and friends after I returned home.  I thought of Lena’s last letter.  Her father had offered me a job.  She said that he was planning to build roads from just north of Sarajevo, back west, and across the Neretva River to Split.  There was a mountain range that would have to be crossed.  He planned to build better highways in Bosnia. He had a contract with the federal government. She asked, “Are you interested?”’ How could I not be interested?