Tomorrow Cal heads back to Richmond for what's called "reconvene," one day where the General Assembly votes on all of the Governor's vetoes. The Page Class of 2014 has been asked to come and work this one day and they're THRILLED. It's well past time for me to recount the story of their graduation day, so anticipation of this final day of service, I thought I'd share how it all ended for these guys.

When the Senate adjourns on the last day of the session, it does so sine die or "without day," which means that there is no set time and date for the body to reconvene. For us, Saturday, March 8 was all about Cal's graduation from the Senate Page Program, but it was also the last day of the General Assembly.

This meant that all the parents got to see a bit of the last session before the graduation ceremony.

For the pages, Saturday was a regular work morning, which meant that Cal went straight to the Lt. Governor's office after he checked in. Neel and I sneaked over to meet him there for a few minutes before heading to the Capitol and letting all of them get back to work.

We all watched a normal session until one of the senators (quite understandably) objected to the number of senators on a commission compared the number of delegates (more delegates than senators seems to be a no-go). After a quick conference at the desk (photo 1), the Senate stood "at ease" while more and more senators gathered to confer. When it became clear that this discussion would take awhile, the Senate stepped away from the calendar to give time for the graduation ceremony.

The pages filed in and lined the room. After that, the Senators introduced each page's parents, and family by family, the Lt. Governor welcomed each of us. Last was Mr. and Mrs. Snow, pictured at the end. They were the House Parents who looked after our kids during the week. The entire room gave them a well-deserved standing ovation.

After the introductions, The Pages' Resolution was read. Together with Mr. Finch, the pages drafted a lengthy resolution. It covered so many things from the session. It was funny and sweet by turn. They'd voted for one of the funnier senators to read it, he's a member of what's know as "The Raucous Caucus," and he gave it everything he had.

When it came time to vote, all the senators voted "NO." At each vote the Lt. Governor gives the senators time to "change their vote," and this time he spoke very slowly. You can see here that he's watching the screen to see all of the NO votes turn to YES.

Mrs. Scharr, the Clerk of the Senate then spoke. Things went from raucous to moving in that moment, and she presented a loving tribute to the kids and the program. The director of the program, Mr. Finch, is called the Court of Appeals and she's considered the Supreme Court (oddly, she's the court of second chances), and she noted that this class had the fewest trips to the Supreme Court of any that had gone before.

She also mentioned a news report that had aired locally and had cast the program in a negative light. The whole thing was a bit of a boondoggle, really. The reporter caused all sorts of trouble while he was researching the story and the final report focused on the cost to the taxpayer, calling the Pages, "lunch-getters and door-holders." Mrs. Scharr (and everyone really) took great umbrage at that.

But you know what? The people rose up. In the comments on the online version of the story, the reporter was skewered, with one commenter saying that as a business owner in VA, he's proud his taxes go to this program which creates future leaders for our Commonwealth. So ha!

After that, each of the kids were called up one by one to be handed their graduation certificates. When Cal came up for his, one of our local senators stage whispered, "Mr. President!" as a nod to Cal's time as president of the senate at the mock session the day before. Mrs. Scharr told each of the kids that there was a white envelope in their certificates, and they were not to open it until she said. Neel and I had been tipped off as to the contents, so we waited with much anticipation for this moment.

A $100 tip for each of the pages. That was fun.

At the very end of the festivities, Cal and another page from his old district, presented the LG with a check for $500 that the pages had raised for the children's hospital where the LG works. It was a really proud moment for everybody.

And then it was over. Jubilation mixed with tears, just an incredible sense of disbelief, I think. No one was ready for it to end. None of us. Mrs. Scharr had said to the kids right at the very end that they'd be coming back for reconvene, so that took some of the sting away. Cal has been counting down the days.

*the senate pages await their turn on the floor*

*last-minute advice from senator donald mceachin*

From the beginning of Cal's program we were told that the Pages would be participating in a Mock Session sometime near graduation. That it could occur at any time and that we might get only 24 hours notice before it took place. We were told that graduation could come on March 7 or March 8 and we might only get 24 hours notice before it took place. Stress! I worried about my class and Neel worried about all manner of meetings and deadlines. But good news! Mock Session scheduled for Friday afternoon. Graduation on Saturday morning.

The pages spent the good last half of the session preparing for the Mock Session. In it, pages act as senators and other agents of the Senate and the senators act as pages. Cal ran for and was elected Lt. Governor. His friend Erin was elected Clerk of the Senate. Other pages ran to chair committees, and in the committees they sponsored and wrote bills. Voted on them, passed them out of committee and prepared to bring them to the Senate floor. In the last week, Erin met with the Clerk and Cal met with the LG, and they both practiced as often as they could (instead of, ahem, study hall). They wanted to do well, and they wanted to do better than the House Pages.

The regular sessions are streamed online each day, and if Neel and I were at our desks when they were on, we'd watch. It was great fun to catch a glimpse of Cal, and fascinating to watch our Commonwealth's legislative process. Being familiar with what went on on the floor made it all the more fun to see the pages take the senator's seats.

Cal popped in to see us in the gallery for a minute. "I'm not at all nervous," he told us. And after that he was all business.

*lt. governor northam helps cal get on his microphone before they go over papers at the LG's desk*

When Cal writes his post, he'll give you all the details of his day-to-day job, but one thing he did each day was manage those green papers for the LG. During the Mock Session, the LG returned the favor.

*some last-minute discussion with the program director (Mr. Finch) and fellow page Erin (she's the Clerk during the Mock Session).*

Right at 4PM, with three sharp raps, Cal gaveled in the session. In what's archaically known as "The Morning Hour," the Senate welcomes visitors at the start of the session. After thanking the "minister" (Mr. Finch) for his invocation, one page introduced the parents in the gallery. After the introduction, Cal, who would stand for the whole of the session, asked the parents to stand and then he thanked them for coming that day and for all their support over the nine weeks.

I'm not gonna lie. He was so eloquent that I got a little weepy. As we all sat down, I heard a mom behind me whisper, "He's awesome!"

Yes.

*in this photo, Cal's roommate (near-center bottom right) stands to defend his bill.*

You know what? They all were. The clerk would call out the name of the bill and a page would press a light asking for the right to speak. Cal, as LG, would call on the page, and that person would then describe their bill, advocating for its passage. The bills were wide ranging. One argued for a ban on Uranium mining near natural bodies of water. One argued that boys be able to tie their neck ties with an unorthodox knot. Other pages would ask to question the page who was sponsoring the bill and back and forth they'd go. It mimicked a real session quite impressively.

In the meantime, the senators, along with the LG, are acting as pages. They're sharing space on the page bench and running errands. One page asked a senator to get signatures of all the pages on the floor, and when the senator returned with the signatures, he said, "Oh, you can throw that away now." Pages had senators pass Cal notes of encouragement, and about 3/4 of the way through the session, they started having the senators bring them snacks.

*the lg brings cal a dr. pepper | last photo: the lg shakes hands with cal after the session*

It was at this moment that we saw the Lt. Governor approach the dais with a Dr. Pepper in hand. As he went to set it down on the desk, Cal made the universal gesture of pouring a drink into a glass. Tossing his hands into the air, the LG heads back down the dais in search of a cup. He returned and poured Cal's drink for him. Cal tipped him $1. He later tipped other senators each a quarter "For being here today."

*cal and mrs. schaar, the clerk of the senate | cal and the lg on the dais after the session*

At the end of the session, one of the pages rose to request a memorial resolution. He told a sweet story and shouted out to his Nana, up in the gallery before getting choked up at the very end. And as soon as he was done, Cal asked, "Shall the memorial resolution be agreed to in the usual manner?" All the pages rose, and after a moment, Cal struck his gavel, signaling that the resolution was agreed to. A page asked if that completed the calendar, and once everything was done for the day, Cal struck the gavel one last time as they adjourned in honor of the 2014 Messenger Page Class. It was 5PM on the dot.

I think Cal might have been proudest of that part. Finishing on time. I was proudest of all of it. Proud of all those kids. How could we not be? If our future is in their hands, I think we're gonna be okay.

sine die {life}

the senate will come to order {life}