Karve Week 1- Family Memories at Graduation

    This past December, my cousin, Ashali, graduated from Penn State.  We had a small, COVID friendly, celebration at her house with my grandparents, aunt and uncle, her sister, my parents, and my brother.  We watched her virtual graduation and took family pictures.  Once she threw her cap in the air, from the comforts of her living room, she made a speech thanking all of us, which was interrupted by her sister who kept playing the sound effects that came with her virtual (temporary) diploma.  

    After Ashali's failed attempt at popping champagne for a photo, the four “kids'' of the family sat around reminiscing on childhood memories.  We were lucky enough to grow up only 30 minutes away from each other, with our grandparents' house in the middle; therefore we were lucky enough to grow up with each other.  I looked back on going to their basketball games, when I was little, and how I would walk into school the next day, bragging about how my cousins were the best on their team. Someone mentioned the first time we went out to get ice cream after my very first dance recital, a tradition we uphold to this day.  We talked about memories from when we traveled together to see extended family and shared inside jokes from throughout the years. 

    The whole time Ashali’s sister, Anjali, who has a future career as a DJ, was playing our favorite songs, which made it all the more fun. Eventually, the whole family joined in on sharing their funniest and most heartfelt memories from throughout the years.  My grandmother reminisced on how we used to play school in her living room and jokingly attributed my cousin's successful graduation to that.  It was really nice all being together once again. Coming together as a family, after months of being apart due to COVID, reminded me how lucky I am to have these people in my life.