Dream Come True

"I Believe"- Fantasia

What I can say is this: Dreams Come True.

I have ALWAYS wanted to attend the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Two and a half years ago I began my first class there. I have ALWAYS wanted to graduate from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. On Saturday, May 17, 2008, I was able to do just that!

Almost a week after graduation I am still recovering from what went down graduation weekend.

Family and friends came out from Miami, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Fayetteville, Reno, Lake Elsinore, Los Angeles and the High Desert to share in on my special occassion and for that I am truly grateful. (A fellow blogger even showed up. Thanks Jammie. Also, thanks toT and D for expressing interest in coming out. All three of you were personally invited because each of you have inspired me in one way or another over the last couple of years.)

PRE-GRADUATION DAY

I was working overtime the days prior to graduation! Trying to entertain guests is exhausting in itself. Trying to entertain 15 different guests at one time is virtual suicide! I, for one, was very shocked to have 15 out-of-state visitors show up to see me graduate. We wanted to get them hotel rooms since they were coming out but it was going to cost a small fortune and it was very hard to find a hotel that could accomodate all of them. What we ended up doing, and it worked out really well, was renting this huge (5,000 sq. ft.) party house for them all to stay in. It was very Brady Bunch reunion of all us when we sat around and ate chinese food on Friday.

The best part of the pre-graduation portion of the weekend was when MyBaby had his play-sister (from Florida) call me when I was out in the streets running errands (I was irritated when she called because all I wanted to do was sit down somewhere). She sounded alarmed on the phone. She explained to me that MyBaby had cut his finger really deep while he was slicing vegetables. She said that he needed to be taken to the hospital, but no one knew where it was. I literally dropped everything and headed over to the rental house.

When I entered, MyBaby was lying on the couch with his hand covered with a napkin (there was some red stuff all over the napkin) and a cold compress on his head. I panicked and tried to get him to get up and go to the hospital, but he would not move. That caused me to look at his hand more closely. That is when I noticed that there was no blood on his hand. The red stuff that was all over the napkin was barbeque sauce. I said to him, "Did you really cut yourself?" He shook his head, "No." My anger began to mount immediately! I turned to walk away and what did I see? My cuz, Shon, who told me she was not going to be able to attend, appeared from around the corner saying, "Surprise!" I took off running! Everyone was laughing and taking pictures. Needless to say, I was out of my funky mood.

GRADUATION DAY

I woke up with a smile on my face. I could not wait to get the day going.

I had to be at the graduation about an hour and a half earlier than everyone else so I could line up for the processional. The minute I put my cap and gown on my breath was taken away. I walked down to the kitchen to surprise MyBaby and tears fell from his eyes immediately. We did it together and the day had finally come. We hugged, kissed, thanked and congratulated each other, took some pics and then got the call from my mom saying that she, my father and brothers were less than an hour away.

I showed up to graduation and hung out with my buddies and took pics. As soon as the ceremony began I felt this sense of accomplishment rush over my body! I walked in with my head held high. I held it high for MyBaby. I held it high for my parents. I held it high for my younger brothers. I held it high for every black man who has the odds stacked against him. I held it high for MYSELF!

During the long ceremony (believe me, it was REALLY long! At one point I wished that I would have hired a stunt double sit in for me) I thought about the fact that I was about to become the first in my family ( on my dad's side) and second in my family (on my mom's side) to graduate from college. Coming from an extended family that has seen more jail cells, varying levels of alcoholism and drug abuse, there was a time when I did not think that I was going to be able to accomplish my dream. But my day had finally come.

The gretest part of graduation day occured after the ceremony. I found my family and friends in the crowd. When I ran up the first thing I saw was my mother's smile. Though I have seen her smile and laugh on many occassions, something was different about this smile. She was proud of me and it showed. I will never forget that moment!

GRAD PARTY (A.K.A- The Party of the Century)

After graduation I went over to the rental house to change clothes and prepare to go over to my house for the graduation party. I tried to be really secretive about what was going to be going down, because I wanted the guests to be surprised and have a great time. We invited close to 100 people to come. Over 60 showed up throughout the night. As for the 30 or 40 (local Las Vegans) who did not show up, well, I have received texts, calls and e-mails from almost all of them telling me that they have heard that it was a blast and want to be invited to the next party.

I made sure that there were plenty of people there, enjoying the music, food and drinks before I showed up. The driver dropped me and MyBaby off in front of our house. We went from the car to the red carpet (yes, red carpet! We had two interviewers and a camera crew on hand to interview, video and take pictures of all of the attendees!) straight to our bedroom on the second floor of our house. No one saw us come up because we called ahead and had one of our party planners make sure that everyone was in the back yard in anticipation of our arrival. Also, we hired a local R&B singer named Kristyna who was singing her face off (MJB's "Just Fine") when we arrived, so sneaking in the house was relatively easy.

Our entire backyard was transformed into a nightclub setting, complete with covered highboy tables, two full bars, a champagne bar, dancefloor, DJ, stage, different colored lights and a large projection screen that read, "Kenny's Gradution Party."

The party planner took the stage and announced that we had finally showed up and were ready to make our entrance. As soon as she said that, Mariah's Carey's Emancipation of Mimi Concert began playing. If you have seen the concert/dvd you know that there is a little video at the beginning that has a Mariah voiceover talking about the fears that she has experienced in life, but got over them. She ends by saying, "If you don't face your fear, you'll never enjoy the ride" (Those were my sentiments exactly with going back to school at the age of 27). All of of a sudden, there is an explosion on the screen and the concert begins! The band is playing, "It's Like That" and Mariah appears as the staging parts. The crowd goes wild. All of my party guests are now looking around in the backyard because they are expecting me to be down there.

THEY WERE NOT READY!

As soon as Mariah sang, "I Came To Have A Party (Party, Party, Party)" and did a dramatic pause as the echo faded out, I stepped out onto my balcony, the lights came on and my guests looked up and went wild. MyBaby followed me and as Mimi sang her heart out we danced, waved and threw mardi gras-styled "Congrats Grad" beads down to everyone! It was a euphoric feeling!

When the song ended, we went back into the room to do a costume change before going downstairs. While we were changing, the party planner got back on stage and announced that we would be down in a second to formally greet everyone but while they were waiting, MyBaby wanted to them to see something. All of a sudden, I hear Jennifer Hudson's song, "Love You, I Do" blasting from the speakers. I look out of the window and there is a slideshow of pictures from my childhood, my teens, my time in the military, and finally my time in college flashing across the screen. If I would not have been rushing to get changed I would have been reduced to a steady stream of tears.

We made it out to the stage just in time for Jennifer to hit her last "Love You, I Do (ooooooo..)." MyBaby gave me a heartfelt introduction and I thanked all of the guests for attending and ended by telling the DJ to "Drop That Beat!"

The rest is history! We partied like it was 1999 all over again! Surprisingly, I was totally sober when the party ended about 4 hours later (I only had one drink the entire time!), but I would not have had it any other way. This way, I remember everything from the night!

I did not take a lot of pictures myself, because there was a camera crew there. As soon as I get those pics I will make sure you guys get a look at some of them.

By the way, thanks for reading this LONG post!

Comments

[D-Place]

Congratulations once again! I am soooo mad that I couldn't make it to help you celebrate! There was just no way I could do it. Thank you for the kind words in your post. You are an inspiration! If I have inspired you in anyway then I too feel proud of your accomplishment. As always I wish you much success, love and happiness for the rest of your days. Well I don't have to wish that for you because you should already know that if you speak it then it will happen!

Love ya...D

[dancehard]

yessir...that party was INDEED crackin! I'm still mad at you for having all those PHINE but unavailable men up and through there! I'll forgive you though b/c everybody was so fun to be around. YES please share the paparazzi pics when they surfaced. Folk (myself included :)) were actin a PLUMB FOOL and that damn camera was RIGHT THERE!

Be sure to give special shout-outs to Terence and Anthony (he was a MESS!) for the wonderful spread of food, X for hooking up that amazing punch, and Michael for getting the party started on the dance floor.

Ok back to work...ugh....

[Quarter Life]

Congratulations Kenny! This is only the beginning of your success! Can a sister please get an invite to the next Kenny extravaganza?!

[Kensilo]

Congrats Kenny on Graduation!! Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!!!!

[life]

Congrats!!!

[Sean Stone]

The balcony entrace sounded HOT. You deserved every bit of the excitement.

Congrats man! You're truly an inspiration to others. = )

[The Piscean]

Congrats man.

[Bullet Proof Soul]

Congrats to you Kenny!! I'm sure the reward will be great for your hard work.

[Darian]

Congrats Kenny! I officially want to be like you when I grow up.