The Awesome Puffy Gown

So, I got my cap and gown for graduation yesterday. It came via UPS, and my neighbor boy couldn't wait to run down the sidewalk and inform me that I had a gotten a package while I was gone walking my route with Milo after work. That has nothing to do with the gown, but it is further evidence that neighbor boy spies on me.

Anyhow, I immediately busted the gown out of the box like a kid at Christmas. This is not your standard flimsy graduation gown. No way, kids. This is a big, ceremonial get-up that is actually real fabric with black velvet lining and stripes, and the sleeves are puffy and gathered. The gown weighs more than my dog. Awesome.

And then there's the hood. It's quite ceremonial and regal, with deep purple and magenta silk lining. But I sure as hell couldn't figure out how it all goes together with the snaps and the turning the colors the right way. I had to call Kelly and ask for guidance but she hadn't received hers yet. She wisely suggested I read the directions, which would obviously be a good place to start, but in all my excitement I had flung them aside.

So I put the whole thing on last night with the hood probably inside out or backwards, and I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and admired the look. I know what I've been working so hard for, but seeing myself in that gown made it all seem very real and almost incomprehensible that I have nearly earned the J.D. For the past three years, I just studied and worked and moved forward toward the goal, but until now, I hadn't imagined what it would feel like to actually graduate from law school.

It feels good. We deserve the puffy sleeves.