Last night, my family and I had the tremendous pleasure of attending the high school graduation of my nephew, for whom my wife and I are also godparents. My nephew was the salutatorian, and gave a well-received address that skillfully mixed scholarship and humor. He also won an award for excellence in mathematics and an even more coveted recognition in the form of a fellowship from the school.
My nephew will be “taking his talents,” as LeBron James famously said in a different context, to an Ivy League university next year. No doubt the fact that he is a devoted reader of this blog has contributed to his success.
Among my nephew’s graduating classmates was the daughter of a Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. The Justice and the Justice’s family were seated a few rows in front of my family. Like the rest of us in the audience, for that evening, the Justice shed all identities other than that of proud family member of a high school graduate.