Highlight of 2025: Evey's graduation

I was looking back at 2025 on the blog and I realized… I never wrote about the highlight of my 2025.

 

We hired a new HR director and today she did a Teams call with me to get to know me (“So, what is it… you’d say… you actually DO HERE?” “I’m a PEOPLE PERSON GODDAMMIT!!!”) I told her about my job and I said… just check out my 2025 at work: New Orleans during Mardi Gras. The Masters, the U.S. Open, the U.S. Women’s Open, the Players Championship. Puerto Rico to visit a golf course construction site. Italy, for the second time. These are all things people pay to do/see. I get paid to go, see and report back.

 

She nodded and said, ‘alright!’ (I also mentioned the great people I work with — friends — as well as loving that my employer cares about me as a person and treats me with kindness and warmth.)

 

ANYWAY!

 

I was cruising through my posts and I realized I never wrote about my highlight of 2025.

 

Rome, right? Maybe Mardi Gras?

 

Nope.

 

Evey’s graduation weekend.

 

WOW, what an experience. I’ll try to recall what I can here, seven months after the fact.

 

**

 

Note that this blog is being written in the HOJ. I’ve been working out here for an hour now. When the sun sets, it sets right in here and the sun makes it pleasant. It was 42 when I entered. 

 

BUT! (Lots of caps in this post) The reason this is extra special is because I’m writing from behind the bar… using StarLink Mini, a gift I got for Christmas. That’s right people, the HOJ is WIRED NOW how ya like that?!? 

 

**

 

First, the graduation ceremony itself. It was so exciting to enter the gym and grab a seat, wait for the graduates to enter. Eudora High had a fun thing where, on the video board, they had a scroll of the seniors, first a baby photo, then their senior portrait. It was cool because a lot of these kids I have gotten to know a little. I coached several of them in soccer and basketball. It was a fun trip down memory lane.

 

Then the seniors entered the gym! Man, you can see Evey’s smile from a mile away, she lights up a room.

 

The speeches were good. When they started walking across the stage, I didn’t know what to do… just watch and soak it all in or try to get some photos/videos for the blog? I did a mix of both, poorly. But I’m glad I waffled. It was fun, and I can still look back at the photos…

 

I will say my emotion at the time… I did kind of feel the tears come on, but I told myself no. I went mind-over-matter. One, because I don’t need Boyd (or anyone) to see me cry, if possible; and two, I was just getting over some kind of chest cold at the time — literally the first time I’ve been sick in maybe seven or eight year (I never got Covid!) and if I got a little weepy, my cough would come back and then I’d spiral into coughs/hacking.

 

Yeah, I barely had a voice at the time. That was bad timing.

 

But it was such a thrill to see Evey in her cap and gown, and stroll across that stage. And then they threw their caps!!! So cool.

 

**

 

Then there was the Evey graduation party at the house!

 

We made two All State Good Hands Play of the Day: we hired a bartender. And we hired a taco truck.

 

For the bartender, I reached out to my friend Juan, who embraced the gig with open arms. We met in Olathe a few days prior and bought the supplies he deemed necessary. He also came to the HOJ a few days early to scout out what the situation would entail, and any pain points he envisioned. He brought his sweet, sweet little girl with him on the scouting trip.

 

The taco truck was a little bit of a different experience. We hired Tacos el King, which you might know from the Checkers parking lot. Great food, fun combo of Mexican and Chinese (I hate to admit I like their Chinese better than their Mexican.)

 

I met Jesus during football season at Rick’s, when they had the truck there during a KU football game. I later asked him about taking care of the graduation party and he was very agreeable. And all the communication after that was positive, but I was always just a little nervous because the communications were limited. I was like, hmmm… I have no Plan B, if he’s in the Checkers parking lot during Evey’s graduation party, I’m screwed. 

 

I took a couple trips to Lawrence to try to catch up with him, but kept missing him. But he’d respond to texts. And I wanted to make sure… hey, Saturday afternoon, you’re going to be there, right? It was the loosest of contracts, barely a handshake deal. 

 

I’ll skip ahead in my own story and tell you, the best moment (OK, biggest relief) for me was when I saw the taco truck pull into my driveway. It was at that moment when I knew… oh damn, this party is ALL SET.

 

**

Funny moment: We’re setting up for the party, getting things ready, it’s about two hours until the party is scheduled to start. I’ve got those last minute things I’ve got to get done. And… our first guests arrive. And they’re literally my VIP guests, family I was hoping would arrive.

 

I thought I had 90 more minutes to get things ready and now I’m showing family the house, walking them around, etc. And I’ve got no time for this. Internally, I’m equally ecstatic and dying. Happy they’re here, crying because they’re here when I’ve got a lot more to do…

 

In a moment of brilliance, Evey came out and she was like, “Hey!” and she needed some help on some detail work in the HOJ, putting up some decorations she had. Perfect for my family friends. They were happy to help her, and now I had my opening.

 

**

 

For a party out here in the country, you’ve got to consider parking. Parking is muy importante. We have limited spots in our driveway. You could park in our yard but then things get chaotic without direction.

 

Evey’s had parties at the HOJ before. The first one — were they juniors? — it was like someone picked up a sack full of Hot Wheels cars and dumped them in my yard. The next party? I stood out there and directed traffic, showed attendees how to park in the drive at a 45-degree angle.

 

Better. 

 

The next party, I wasn’t out there, but they maximized parking.

 

But this time was a different animal. 

 

We decided… no parking at our house, at all. We have really kind neighbors. I talked to Cathy first, she’s our neighbor to the north and she’s a friend. She was fine with us using her circle drive as parking. 

 

Then we talked to Mark and Teresa across the street. They’re so nice. Not only did they volunteer their property (20 acres) for parking, they also brought over extra tables we could use. Mark then brought out orange parking cones to slow people down. They were into it, I think. They’re directly across the street from us, and in the sense that it was a vertical line across from us, it made a lot of sense to park cars there.

 

A few weeks out I got into making signs for the event, a callback to when Jess and I used to take Mom’s butcher block paper and made signs welcoming my dad back home. I made a sign that said “A Lot” and a sign that said “B Lot” and I also made signs that said, “Evey Grad Party, .75 miles ahead.” 

 

Early on, it felt like something useful I could do that would help.

 

I grabbed a few empty boxes (Amazon, always) and custom-made the signs to fit the boxes. It was fun. I do like making signs and trying to make them look cool, then coloring in the letters. My mom would have loved helping me with this. 

 

**

 

I still had the Polaris 4-wheeler at the time. I had the signs ready to go. But now I needed to get them OUT.

 

As mentioned previously, Evey created a distraction for me.

 

I jumped on the 4-wheeler and started hustling. The worst one was the “Evey Grad Party, .75 miles” sign. I had to drive that thing all the way to 1000 Road. I got the Polaris up to 45, maybe 50 mph, and thought to myself, “Slow down, this is not the time to lose control of a 4-wheeler.”

 

I planted that sign. And now that I wasn’t holding anything in my hands… both hands on the wheel… I opened that $&#$#@!* up. I leaned into the Polaris, dressed in business causal for a party. The wind was ripping through my hair. I might have felt like Batman, swooping in to stop the Joker from poisoning Gotham’s water supply.

 

I had three more signs to get propped up and dammit, I did it. My favorite was the one in Cathy’s drive — I had to cut out a slit in the back of the sign and I used a snow shovel as the prop. I was traveling with a pocket knife. I felt like MacGyver.

 

**

 

At some point the party started, I don’t know, at this point it was a blur. 

 

It should be noted that I told myself that I should not have my first beer until at least midway through the party — this is my version of restraint. 

 

Juan had a line at the bar, he was making… mojitos?!? For everyone. The taco truck had a line. People were getting the little buzzers to know when their food was ready. We had maybe 10 tables set up across the driveway, in the HOJ and the woods, for people to sit an eat. They were all full. The jukebox was rocking. Richard and Jerry were playing shuffleboard. I walked into the HOJ, and some of Evey’s favorite teachers were all sitting on the couches in a semi-circle, just having a blast.

 

**

 

I asked Juan, how’s it going? Boyd was doing a good job at being his bar-back. But Juan was like, “Someone asked for a rose (row-say)… do you have any?”

 

My first reaction was: Are you kidding me? I’ve got a goddamn taco truck but someone needs a rose? We had a full bar… all the booze you need, plenty of beer, some of the one-offs (I still have a dozen High Noons in the fridge… want one?) but someone needs a rose this afternoon…

 

I walked over to the house and grabbed every bottle of wine that wasn’t blood red that we had (we’ve got a lot; we don’t drink wine but we’ve been to Italy a few times.) I had maybe five bottles in my hands as I trotted to the HOJ, past the taco truck. Everyone looked at me. I was like, “What? Someone wants a rose.”

 

I don’t know if that customer … er, I mean, guest, got his or her rose… but I tried…

 

**

 

Random aside: one of our first guests was the sheriff. And I was like, ‘Are you F’ing kidding me?’ He pulled into Mark’s driveway, backed into a front row spot, and started walking across the street.

Was this some kind of complaint? My parking signs? Not from my neighbors — they’re all cool.

 

Adrianne looked at me and said, ‘Want me to come with you?’ And I said, no… remember, I haven’t been drinking! For once. Let me talk to him and sort this out…

 

I started walking up the slope of the drive and then I saw… it was Victor. Adrianne’s cousin. 

 

I laughed and greeted him. I didn’t know then that he was a rolling in a sheriff’s SUV. He had to get in early then bounce because his shift was about to start.

 

Bonus: it looked like we had badass security at our party.

 

**

 

Ready for the weird part?

 

Everyone is having a good time, the weather is great. Evey has this cool sign she made and her high school friends are taking photos in front of it. The whole front of house is buzzing with activity.  

 

The HOJ, meanwhile, smells like mint because Juan is a good salesperson and the mojitos are FLYING off the shelves. (I walked over and said, Juan! Please let these people know we have keg beer, OK?)

 

And then… a rumble… a dozen motorcycles go by. Then another dozen. They all slow down (Mark the neighbor’s cones) then rev their engines when they see the party. A few throw out fists in the air, a few throw out peace signs. 

 

My cousin Melissa walked up the hill and looked down the street towards the south. Then she looked at me with an, “Oh, SHIT!” look.

 

I’m fuzzy on the number right now, I think it was like 400 motorcycles that went by, not exaggerating — Victor told Rod the Sheriff’s office was informed of the organized ride. And it happened to go past our house. 

 

Melissa turned back and looked at me, with a tear in her eye, and she said, “It’s Grandpa!”

 

I just kind of laughed. It’s a motorcycle ride. Very cool!

 

Then I thought about it: Grandpa Nick and Evey share the same birthday (Pearl Harbor Day.) And Grandpa got to meet Evey. And Grandpa was in a motorcycle gang. And neither him, my grandma, mom or dad were in attendance. Every reader of this blog knows the pain Jess and I have of missing our parents. They would have LOVED this party.

 

I was like, you know what? That is Grandpa Nick. VROOOOM!

 

I did soak this all in.

 

**

 

When Tacos el King shut it down, I got the guys out of the truck and we all grabbed some Modelos. I called out ‘Last call for mojitos!’ and Juan was able to hang for one cold one.

 

I was exhausted but so happy. Poor Evey, she meant to hit a few other parties that night but was never able to get away.

 

There was a storm cloud that lurked above us, with lighting (ask any kids I coach, I don’t mess with lightning) but it came and quickly went. 

 

I watched that taco truck pull out of the driveway. I could tell that Evey was having a blast. Adrianne and Boyd were too. Adrianne’s family and my family were too. 

 

The jukebox never stopped. I don’t remember shutting down the party … really, I took it easy that night. HA! I do remember, when I did start drinking, I grabbed a 30-ounce stein I’ve got.

 

A great reason to celebrate. My little girl graduated high school. And she did it in style.

 

My mom and dad would have been so proud. 

 

And they probably would have arrived early, too! Ha. 

 

Best day of the year, 2025. Sorry, Rome, and the Colosseum. 

 

I WAS MORE ENTERTAINED in Eudora, Kan.