One of the primary reasons we returned to visit the Gomez Family this summer was to attend three important events for Happy. First, we celebrated his birthday; second, we witnessed his graduation from VPK; and third, we attended his first Hip Hop Recital. This guy was on a high ever since we arrived.
Upon request, Happy wanted a “super hero” themed party and an ice cream birthday cake. Sarah had appropriately decorated cupcakes made for the hour-long party at Happy’s school. Then she and Michael hosted an abbreviated family gathering at their house over the weekend with Papa Carl, Carl’s sister Ilsa, and great grandma “Mima.” Mima is the family matriarch, and everyone proudly acknowledges her being 104 this year; not to take anything away from Happy turning 5, of course.
We gifted Hap with five crisp $1 bills, which he quickly placed inside his wallet. More significantly, Papa Carl gave him a Floride Lifetime Fishing License. That too was put into his wallet, and he continued to ask throughout the rest of our visit when someone would take him fishing. Sarah, a relative new member of the Hollywood Women’s Club, used one of their fund-raising events to kick off Happy’s day in true Florida style. Flocking happens surreptitiously in the night.
On May 30th, Happy graduated from the VPK program at the First Presbyterian Church Learning Centers. We walked him and Sam to school several mornings and saw how his school was advertising the upcoming event. The Centers put on a very impressive graduation, wherein each class performed a song and dance routine before students walked the stage and were presented with their diploma. I was able to video Happy’s class routine, “Dynamite Kinder Graduation,” although he had performed it for us many times before the actual event.
The Church certainly went all out with caps and gowns, medals, and diplomas. Geez, our generation didn’t have such pomp and circumstance until High School graduation.
Happy’s first dance recital included his hip hop dance among other performances by dancers and dramatic actors from the Jus’ Hip Hop studio. This was his first year in hip hop, and he thoroughly enjoyed dancing. He and sister Samantha regularly conducted dance offs at home, and we were exposed to this heated competition several times before attending the recital. As such, we saw him dancing his hip hop routine well before the recital. Good thing too, because no videos were allowed during the show.
The recital was held at the Lou Rawls Center for the Performing Arts at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens. As grandparents, we were hopelessly biased about his talent; however, an audience member behind us gave unsolicited positive feedback on Happy’s performance. He volunteered, “That boy’s really got the moves.” He clearly stood out amongst his dance classmates. The entire family was deeply proud of him. What a sweet, sweet boy!
Fortunately, pictures were allowed for the presentation of studio awards with all the performers aligned on stage. Happy struggled to find us in the audience, because the lights were so bright. However, he gave a big wave and broad smile once he eventually spotted us.
Epilogue: The dance-offs between brother and sister, while extremely fun and highly entertaining, never ended well, as we were warned in advance by Michael and Sarah. The grands each demanded that we vote for a “winner,” with a strongly-voiced caveat from both that there could be “no tie.” Regardless of the outcome, the loser always cried and broke our hearts with each tear. And believe me when I say no manner of logical reasoning justified a tie outcome. Tie-voting simply meant we had to watch one more dance number in order to properly make up our minds.
