I just returned from Boston where I helped celebrate my grandson’s graduation from New England Law/Boston. It was great to be there with other family and friends to celebrate this momentous occasion. Justin graduated fifth in his class of just over 200 students and was presented with the New England Law/Boston Outstanding Achievement Award.
The school is one of the oldest in Boston, founded in 1908 as Portia Law School, and offered women a place to study law when they were not admitted to other law schools. In 1926, the school started serving both women and men, and in the 1950s the school shifted to a predominately male population. In more recent years that ratio has become more evenly split.
As in years past, this year’s graduation ceremony was held in the Citi Performing Arts Center Wang Theatre, a beautiful old building that has quite an interesting history. It was originally started as the Capitol Hotel, and when investors ran out of money, it became a theatre. On opening night, October 16, 1925, more than 20,000 New Englanders crowded Tremont Street hoping to be among the first to see what newspapers called the “marvel of the show world.” In 1983, he historic venue became known as the Wang Theatre after a generous gift from Dr. An Wang, and it is recognized as one of the most important cultural facilities in New England.
An honored tradition is to have the graduates process the two blocks from the law school to the theatre – led by pipers – and we were blessed by a lovely day to stand and watch the graduates pass by.
The school invited the Right Hon. Beverley McLachlin, the Chief Justice of Canada, to give the commencement address. She is Canada’s first female and longest-serving Chief Justice, and she paralleled the efforts of women to enter the law profession in the United States with those in Canada, noting the strides that have been made and those still yet to be made.
After the graduation, we spent a few more days in Boston, seeing the sights and connecting with such an historic city. We took a tour on Boston Duck Tours, which has vehicles that convert from a bus to a boat. We went all through Beacon Hill, noting special places, such as Paul Revere’s house, and then went into the Charles River. Once out into open water, the driver invites people to drive the boat, so of course I did.
No trip to Boston would be complete without a stop at Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.” I loved that TV show and was thrilled to be here.
We enjoyed several walks around Boston Common and Boston Gardens. The oldest park in the country, the Common is the starting point of the Freedom Trail, a walking tour of many of the historic places that played a part in the Revolutionary War. The flowers were just starting to bloom, but it was still a lovely place to be. I loved the Weeping Beech and all the tulips.
One of the statues in the garden is of George Washington. Doesn’t he look good astride his horse?
There is a large pond in the garden with lots of ducks and geese, and this pair of swans, who are currently nesting. People were encouraged to keep a good distance away by means of a wire barrier that the Parks Department had erected. Still, it was nice to see them caring for their babies so carefully.
I don’t know what these purple flowers are, so if anybody does, please enlighten the rest of us. 🙂
All in all, it was a wonderful trip to a place so rich in history, sharing it with some of the family. It was bit challenging at times because of this nasty Ramsay Hunt that is still plaguing me. Not as bad as during February and March when I did nothing, but still bad enough that it limited some of my activities. I loaded up on pain meds, bit the silver bullet and championed on.