Life of Wry

Peter didn’t get his diploma in June… for all those obvious reasons — no classes, no gatherings, no ceremonies — that whole pandemic thing.

But… look what arrived! It had been sent to his La Jolla apartment, but he’d long since moved out. Fortunately, Ray still lives there and brought it up to Davis on a visit last week.

I opened it while talking to Peter on Facetime and could show it to him. Our guy, who doesn’t stand on formalities, pomp or ceremony, was noticeably moved. He said it made graduation seem real … his last four years, his physics major, UCSD … all of it. It seemed to bring closure to a huge and significant chapter in his life, and that sense of closure seemed to catch him a little off guard. Not getting to walk across a stage in front of an audience that included Jim and me and get handed a diploma by his chancellor left things a little unfinished. There was no real conclusion his time at UCSD, and no formal recognition of what he’d done and accomplished. In the context of everything else going on at the time — tragedies everywhere you looked — it seemed a small sadness. But it was just so, so unfortunate. I felt so badly at the time that he didn’t get to experience that classic milestone.

So anyway, he was very enthusiastic about the idea of my framing it. He seemed genuinely proud and accomplished (in a Peter way). It was incredibly sweet.

I just love that guy.

Here is his shiny new diploma, pre framed.