Air Horn Graduation

My son had his graduation from high school this week. We really lucked out with the weather on his day especially given that it has been raining almost everyday for the past two weeks. This was a very hot bright sun shiny day.

Realistically, I know I'm never going to win as far as the weather is concerned so I was happy with the sun. My head doesn't like the sun or the rain and graduation would be much better off outside than inside a stuffy auditorium with echoing noises any day of the week.

Graduation day was full of Migraine triggers from the very beginning. I'm sure I don't have to go into the normal stresses of the day or of the challenges of trying to get a teenager up early in the morning to go to the required practices and other pre-graduation preparations when all they want to do is sleep in late.

I also needed to pick up an abortive prescription at my doctor's office and have it filled before going to the mall only to find myself needing to take one after I arrived there. Even though everything was stacked against me, I was hoping I could avoid one on this day, but it would just be another thing I had to deal with that I didn't have the time for.

I got to the ceremony early and was able to find a seat in the shade which helped as much as I would expect. My troubles started after the graduation procedure began - that is when all of the air horns came out! They were ALL over the place and I was surrounded by them. The best part was right after the last kid, excuse me, adult was called up to get his diploma. ALL of the air horns went off for a very long time.

I read a post this morning, No, You're not Crazy, You just Have Migraines, that made me think of the crazy thoughts I had while all of these "Migraine Makers" were sounding off. I was picturing something cutting off (insert your own imagination here) the source that was creating the noises to make their sounds.

I know this is a bit drastic and I probably wouldn't have said anything if I didn't read this great post, but look at this list of triggers and exasperating factors I'd been contending with all day: teenage son, noises, sun, heat, stress, weeks of rain, family members, very loud noises, the mall, the doctor's office, the pharmacy, hormones, dehydration and a bad night's sleep. There were additional stresses not related to graduation going on too. Although I did find out this week I survived the latest round of job cuts, there were many people close to me who did not.

I do try to find the bright side of things and here's what I've been able to come up with for graduation: I dread to think of what I might have done had the graduation actually been held indoors and the air horns been brought in there and blown. I can only allow my imagination to run wild and be thankful I didn't need to live through that fantasy.

I didn't have anything on me, but I would have been afraid of making a scene on my son's last official day of school. I have been working so hard on trying to get my head under control and to be able to control myself in general. I've made some progress, but the rain and all of these other little triggers and the air horns do not help.

Now I have another child on his way to further his education. What more could a proud mom ask for?