It was supposed to be her special day!

The last few days have been busy as usual, but it has been a different kind of busy.  A FUN busy!  One of my friends, Denisa, (we have been friends since we were little and in grade school) has worked her rear-end off and graduated from nursing school.  This is an accomplishment in and of itself, but she graduated summa cum laude (4.0) for her college career.  This is such a HUGE accomplishment for her and I am so proud of her! 

I invited her to go get a mani/pedi and lunch and whatever else we could come up with for a graduation present and we had a blast on Friday.  We spent the morning together at the salon, did a tiny bit of shopping and had lunch.  She had to spend some time with her family in the afternoon, so we called it a day!  Her toes and fingers looked GORGEOUS!!!!!

Saturday morning I got up and got around - worked out, had my breakfast and headed out to the graduation service.This was supposed to be her SPECIAL DAY!  I met up with Susan and we watched Dee graduate!  When they asked for the students that graduated with a 4.0 only 3 students stood.  That is just how wonderful Dee did!  Top 3 BABY!!!!

We had some finger foods and then headed over to the pinning ceremony.  This was going to be Dee's big moment.  She was getting an award for her hard work.  Her goal during her college career was to achieve the 4.0 grade point average.  This is hard in and of itself, but in nursing school, the grading scale is even harder.  So, extra work is required.  Besides her goal, she wanted to show her kids what you can accomplish when you do work hard.  Michael has been struggling a little in school and she was hoping that this would be an eye-opening moment for him.  To see the hard work pay off with recognition and accolades from the school!

We were so excited for her, her family was there and she had a cheering friends section as well!

As we were reading our booklets and listening to the ceremony, it came time for Dee's recognition, except it didn't happen.  It appears that the director forget about her.  They recognized the other 2 students with awards, plaques and words of praise from their peers and teachers.  But, somehow Denisa was forgotten.  We were very confused, kept looking at our programs and the graduation program (which listed Denisa receiving the award).  The ceremony went on, no mention of it at all. 
Denisa was pinned by her husband Lance and her two sons, Carter and Michael.  It was a proud moment for the family, but Denisa was upset and rightfully so.

After the service was over, the gym was emptying and we were out in the lobby looking for Denisa and her family.  We found Lance and the boys and the rest of her family, but not Dee.  When we found her she was in tears and had been given the plaque.  Evidently she asked one of her teachers why she didn't get the acknowledgment she was supposed to get and they went to find out and were told that she was just forgotten.  Honestly, this is totally unforgivable. Without us knowing it, the director announced to the empty gym, like that would make a difference.  She gave her the corsage she had been wearing, like that would make up for it. 

I felt so bad for her, there was nothing that could be done to make up for it.  Her shining moment had not happened, was gone.  A used corsage is hardly acceptable as an apology.  Quite frankly, it is like a slap in the face in my opinion. 

Lisha decided to find out what happened and why, she talked with the director and while she was apologetic, she had no answer.  What I find so totally strange is the fact that the woman KNEW there were 3 recipients, why didn't she say something when they only handed out two awards?????  It really makes no sense.

We went back to Dee's house for cake and champagne with a heavy heart, but we are still so VERY PROUD of her and what she has done!

After a quick family dinner with Chase and Madelyn, Brian and I headed off to the celebration party!  We had a blast, cussed and moaned about Crowder College's incompentance and danced the night away. 

That is what true friends are for!

Denisa, please know that I know this post does not even come close to making up for what has happened, but I wanted to share with the world just how special you are and how wrong Crowder College Nursing Department was!  We love you and couldn't be more proud of you!  Going back to school as an adult, having to take care of your family as well as all the studying and clinicals and all you went through, you have had a HUGE accomplishment!

As I stated yesterday on facebook before all this went down, "You is smart, you is kind, YOU is important!"

xxooxx