On Friday May 16th Vickie, Sally, JoAnn and Wil went to Providence, Rhode Island on what would have been Jimmy's graduation. This was supposed to be a happy day for us all to enjoy, but although we are extremely proud of Jim earning his college degree in the culinary arts, we are heart broken he is not here. We left Friday around 10:30, but first stopped at the cementery. It was a rainy day and not a good day for travel, but it did not matter since we would have went if Jimmy was with us. The drive took just over 7 hours, in what should have been a 4 hour drive. We arrived, checked in to the hotel, but was disappointed that the butterflies we had ordered for the ceremony had not arrived (more on that later).

After we checked in we headed out for dinner at Nick's on Broadway where Jimmy worked. We met up with Derrick, a close friend of Jim's and the owner of the restaurant, and we were happy to see that Jimmy had made some great friends there. Derrick and the crew told us some wonderful stories about Jim that just showed the person he truly was...a hard worker, determined, with a great sense of humor. As Jim's aunt said "though we are very saddened, we felt at peace being there."Thanks to Derrick and his staff. We saw how hard Jimmy worked there and how much he was learning from Derrick. Thank you Derrick and the food there was just amazing.

We woke up early the next morning to arrive at the ceremony. We had VIP parking and seating and arrived with plenty of time. When the graduates came out, I was choked up. It was very emotional for all of us and we were in tears. After all of the speakers we were all anticipating hearing Jimmy's name when they were announcing the graduates. Jimmy was the first name called out...."To honor the family of James Leigh Vandewater IV who received his degree Posthumously". The students clapped and cheered, as did the audience and teachers. We all stood up to honor Jimmy. It was Bittersweet. It was a proud and sad moment at the same time.

After the ceremony we went to have brunch at Nick's on Broadway, but it was extremely packed. So we went elsewhere. The food was not as good. We finished brunch and drove by Jim's apt. There was a street nearby called Vandewater St...was this a sign? We took some pictures of the street and of Jimmy's old apt and went back to the hotel to get ready to go to Boston for dinner at Taranta

Taranta was the restaurant that Jimmy spoke very highly of when he went there with Amanda a few years ago. He spoke very highly of Chef Duarte and after meeting him I can see why. If you read Jimmy's paper you will know that he had a hard time getting there and so did we...although not as bad. I dropped the ladies off at the restaurant and went on my trek to find parking in the middle of Boston on a weekend where they hold graduation ceremonies. I thought the time to find parking would take me around a half hour, but instead it took just a little over an hour. I wasn't a happy camper. Thanks to Chef Duarte though, it did not take 2 hours. It was worth it. We heard more great stories about Jimmy and sat at the table where he and Amanda sat that night. We also read some of the stories that Jimmy read on the way to the rest room and took some pictures with Chef Duarte. The food was excellent there and we will go back in the future.

Sunday morning we were emotionally drained so did not wake up as early. We checked out at 10 and went to have brunch at Nick's on Broadway. The day was nice so we ate outside and got ready to travel home. We are glad that we went. We were not able to release the butterflies that we had ordered for the ceremony since they never arrived. After I got home the hotel said they found the butterflies and released them in the court yard in Jimmy's name. That was a kind act and we would like to thank Dee Deshaw from the Radisson Hotel. That weekend we learned the impact that Jimmy had in the Providence/Boston area and we also became more aware of how dedicated Jimmy was to the culinary arts. You have to be talented to work at Nick's on Broadway and also a hard worker, and to realize that you have to go there.