As June 3 rolls around, graduation announcements will be mailed out along with invitations to parties acknowledging this huge milestone. Families and friends alike will flock to the celebrations held in beautifully manicured backyards, arriving with hands full of presents and cards stuffed with cash. You will be sure to find the delicious catered food next to the carefully set up cupcake display.

Now I am not bashing this tradition at all, on the contrary, I’m quite jealous. I would love to throw one of these said parties. However, you need people to come for it to be a party, and with two brothers living in Texas and California, and the rest of my extended family residing in upstate New York, this becomes problematic.

For my brothers to use their vacation time and buy plane tickets home for two days, my graduation party would have to include a performance by Kanye West and gift bags filled with one-hundred dollar bills and bars of gold.

Speaking of one-hundred dollar bills, I’ve come to realize graduation parties are also a major source of income (for us graduates-not parents). All my peers are cashing checks and making bank while I sit around and debate if I have enough money to get Chick-Fil-A for lunch.

As for my extended family, I am the youngest cousin on both sides with my next youngest cousin being 24. This means one lives in Germany, one lives in Connecticut, and ten live in New York. Sadly, the last time we all got together as a family was when my grandfather passed away in 2014. In a twisted way, it was fun to see everyone again at his funeral, I just wish it didn’t require someone’s death to have a reunion. Maybe all my family needs IS a graduation party…