My honored graduate... FINALLY! (not finally that he's honored, well, maybe that too, but mostly that he has graduated!)

I am going to say some things about my dear Dave. So don't feel wierd, I'm not saying my husband is better than your husband, or that my life is better than yours, or gee, we just have it all- I'm just going to toot Dave's horn because first of all, he never would, and second of all, well, to me he IS great.

Well at last, Dave did it, he graduated from ortho school! What a feat! He is such a great student. Dave has always been a student in our life together, which started 10 years ago. I don't think he'll ever not be a student at heart. He is such an avid learner, reader, thinker and much to my chagrin, he talks of some day going back to more school, perhaps law. (Dave would make a great lawyer, have you ever tried to argue with him? Well, don't. I mean, uh, not that we have ever argued or anything.)

During Dave's dental and ortho schooling he has always worked hard to keep his priorities straight. He always did the best he could in his classes and had great raport with his patients and certain faculty. In dental school Dave worked part time overnight at a Security Systems place to support the family and keep loans down, and he also got a government scholarship by taking Russian language courses along with his full load of dental courses. In ortho school, during the summer, the students got Fridays off, so of course responsible Dave got a job at a dental office on Fridays to also help keep the loans down. Through all of this demanding schooling, Dave has worked hard, very hard. I'd also like to say that at the same time he has always made sure he was with the family as much as he could be, and always made church and his callings a priority.

Dave graduated from dental school Magna Cum Laude, if you know what that means. I was so proud of him. He'd wanted to do well enough to keep the doors open in case he ever wanted to specialize. Well, that came in handy. A year later he decided he'd apply to just one ortho school, the one that was in town, Jacksonville University. What are the chances of that? We had some friends with connections at JU and I kept prodding Dave to take advantage of those connections to sure up the bets that he would get in. Dave told me time and time again NO, he would not want to get in that way. Dave knew not using connections would be risky, but he wanted to know that he got into ortho school on his own merits. So he applied and interviewed and sure enough, he was accepted on his own merits. Yay for that! I'm glad he stuck to his guns.

Another 2 busy years of school went by and Dave learned alot and really enjoyed himself. He was sad to graduate and leave the school and his patients. He really was. That's one thing about Dave, he finds happiness wherever you put him. He really knows how to roll with it, and I thank his parents for that. Hmm, I thank his parents for alot of things.

Well, Dave made me proud again at his recent ortho graduation night. It was so nice to have his parents there with us. They are wonderful people and should get most of the credit for helping this boy become who is today. That night at dinner, Dave gave a couple nice speeches. People laughed and cried (okay, so maybe it was just me.) He said his good-bye's to his favorite mentors and friends. And lastly, Dave had told me about this special award that the director gives out at graduation, named after the director's deceased and honored father, which was really something special to recieve. There are different awards they pass out on graduation night, but this one is kind of the hum dinger. It's awarded for excellence in academics, input to the program, and for being an excellent clinician. Yes, I don't even have to say it, but yes, Dave recieved that special award! I'd be proud of him with or without any awards, but it's nice to see him applauded publicly for just being who he is. I sure love him. He IS the "best eva!*" (*refer to the photo of the chalkboard below.)

Dave's wonderful Momma. I am so sorry I didn't get a good picture with Dave and his wonderful Dad too, but know that he was there!

A few faculty who inspired Dave and taught him many things:

Dave on his way up to receive his special award

Dave receiving his diploma
Dave with his biggest fan

I thought I'd include this photo I took from our last day at church. Dave taught the gospel essentials class and was not only loved as a student, but here, as a teacher too: