Under the Blue Moon

Chapter 6

Tanner yells, "C'mon, you guys! Let's go, I'm going to be late for my own graduation!"

Peter, Warren, and you hurry down the stairs at Tanner's urgings. When you get downstairs, you see your baby brother in his cap and gown. Seeing him like that, you feel such a sense of pride and you feel tears burning behind your eyes.

You say, "Okay, young man. We are all ready to go!"

Peter gets in the driver's seat with Warren next to him, and Tanner and you slide in the backseat. It is a beautiful late June morning, and the sense of excitement is overwhelming. This is the second graduation that you got to attend in the past month. Your brother Peter graduated with honors an entire semester earlier than expected with a degree in business and a minor in economics. Peter has found himself a lucrative job in finance in January. His commencement took place three weeks ago and you felt similar kind of pride. Warren will be a senior in the Fall and will be graduating this time next year from college. But today, the man of honor is your baby brother, Tanner. He has already been accepted to an in-state university on a partial academic scholarship.

When you get to the commencement, you can't help but shed tears of happiness. After the graduation, Tanner brings his friends to the house for an after-graduation party. The entire day goes by without a hitch. When all of Tanner's friends leave and it's just the four of you in the house, you get emotional again. You made a congratulatory cake for Tanner and the four of you have your own private party. You think, "I did it. I got them all through it." After the intimate celebration, Tanner and Warren go up to bed and it's just you and Peter lingering in the kitchen.

Peter says, "Listen, now that Tanner is out of high school and him going to college is a definite, maybe it's your turn to go back and get your degree. You only have like three semesters to go. Don't you?"

You reply, "Yea. Maybe I'll think about it for the fall semester."

Peter asks, "Why do you sound so uncertain? I thought the plan was for you to go back as soon as possible."

You say, "Well, I want to make sure that Tanner's tuition isn't going to be an issue."

"Sis, I'm making really good money and my earning potential will only improve over time. If Tanner's tuition needs to be paid, I've got it."

You reply, "Listen to you, Mr. Moneybags over here."

"I'm serious. I don't want you working as a clerk in a law office forever. You need to get your degree and go to law school just like you had planned. You've sacrificed enough of your life for us. You don't have to make any more sacrifices. Warren will be graduating next year and with his engineering degree, he'll do fine financially and between Warren and I, we can take care of whatever that may come up."

You say, "Peter, thank you. I really appreciate that. I am really thinking about going back. I promise that I'll be back in school in the fall. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."

Peter laughs and says, "Good!"

As the two of you sit, you think back on the past three years. Soon after dropping out of college, you got yourself a full-time job at a law office working as a secretary. The people at work are very nice and you love the work that you do. But you do have to admit that you are envious of all the attorneys that work there. With your brother's encouragement, you start to make firm plans for returning to school to finish your undergraduate education.

Throughout the past three years, your mind would touch on Jin every once in a while. He never did contact you after the last text he sent, and since then, your cell phone number changed, and time just marched on. After a while, it would have been too weird to reach out. Every time you had a thought to text him again, you'd think, "What would I even say? It's been forever and his last text said he would contact me when he was ready to talk. May be that was his way of saying he didn't want to talk anymore." As the time marched on, you thought about Jin less and less, and eventually, he became a poignant ghost from your life, before your mother's death.

You do return to school in the fall at a local college, as you promised Peter. One year later, you get to attend 2 college graduations, one for you and one for Warren. You do great on your LSAT and get into a state university's law program. Initially, you try your hand at going to law school full time and to work part-time. However, you find that you are not able to focus on either one fully, and you decide to quit working, to focus only on school. Soon after that, both Peter and Warren moved back home. They told you it was because they didn't want to pay rent on an apartment when they can live at home for free. At least, that's what they told you, but you knew that the real reason was so that they can help financially in running the house while you finished law school.

The three years in law school passes by so fast that you really don't get the chance to think about anything else. Your law school graduation took place two weeks before Tanner's college graduation. Tanner graduated with a degree in finance and will be starting a new job at the financial firm in which Peter works. With all three of your brother's now gainfully employed and no longer minors, you feel some sense of relief and pride for job well done. You pass your bar exam on your first try after getting recruited right out of law school to a large law firm. Currently, you are on a fast track to making partner at a prestigious law firm of Reed, Jackson, Park, and Alvarez. The gratitude you feeling every single day for how everything turned out for you and your brothers is ever present and you don't think it is possible for your to feel any happier than you are now.