Watching my son, Michael, graduate from college with his B.A. from Arkansas Tech University was the proudest moment of my life. I'm a sentimental old fool anyway and I just couldn't hold back the tears when they announced his name. He had jumped through all the hoops and over all the hurdles on the way to accomplishing his goal and I was so proud of him and for him. He's going to be a teacher, just like his mom and dad.

It looked for a while like I might miss the biggest day so far in his life. I was scheduled to fly out of Denver to Little Rock last Friday, the same day we were scheduled for another snow in McCook. To be on the safe side, I left for Denver on Thursday afternoon. I spent Thursday night at the Embassy Suites near the airport because Denver was predicted to get the same snow that was coming this way and I didn't want to have to drive any further than necessary. It started snowing in Denver at 6 a.m. on Friday and snowed all day. Checkout time was noon and my plane didn't leave until 7:40 so I called and asked for a later check-out time and they graciously gave me until 2:30. That still meant five hours in the airport but that was better than seven.

It snowed all day and I became concerned that flights might start being cancelled but luck was on my side and the snow stopped around 6 p.m. I've always loved airports because you have the chance to meet such a wide variety of people. I sat next to a guy at the Mesa Verde bar at the airport. His name was Frank and he was on his way back to Norway after finishing a hi-tech job in Denver. We talked about a variety of things including politics, religion, racism, and sexism and it's always fascinating to me how people share so many more commonalities than differences.

As I went through check-in and then rode the underground train to my concourse, I thought about the people who have never been in a big city airport or flown on a plane. As I departed the train and took the escalator towards my gate, I was struck by the variety of people who were sharing the same space with me who I would never see again. Men and women, old and young, every race and a wide range of nationalities, rich and poor, a literal melting pot of humanity coming and going; all with their own joys and sorrows, heartaches and rewards, experiences and recollections and I thought what a wonderful privilege it is to be a part of this world.

My youngest son, Will, picked me up at the Little Rock airport and we drove an hour through a blinding rainstorm to Russellville. Linda had fried chicken and all the fixings ready for me when I got there and I ate and went to bed. Michael graduated at 10 the next morning and, after his graduation, we took him to eat at his favorite restaurant and then to the movie to see "No Country for Old Men," one of the best movies I've seen in years.

We spent Saturday night visiting at home and turned in fairly early. Linda made pancakes for me Sunday morning and then she took me to see her art room at one of the schools she teaches at. Then Michael took me to the airport for my flight back to Denver. I made more friends at the airport bar, since my flight was running a couple of hours late. Shawn, who owns a bar and grill called Fish Tails in Ocean City, Md., Adam, a product engineer for Coors Tek from Little Rock, and Maggie, a student living in Denver. We all had a great time laughing, talking, telling jokes and watching the Sunday afternoon football games. Finally the plane arrived and the flight to Denver was smooth and pleasant. I was lucky enough to have a seat by myself so Maggie split time between sitting with me and sitting with Adam.

Will graduates in three more semesters and he's going to be a teacher too.

Linda canceled the Reno trip we were going to make this week with an e-mail to me on Monday afternoon. Said she couldn't make a trip like that with me when I was still in love with someone else. Today would have been our 34th wedding anniversary if I hadn't of fouled things up.