I Cried in Minnesota

Summer 2025.

In the middle of nowhere in Minnesota. The rains pour and students glide about in their robes, while their families exchange kisses and damp embraces. It is a wet, uplifting summer morning in Northfield, MN, but the city hums with showers of blessings. This is a graduation weekend at Carleton College. My friend, Albert, will soon grace the podium with his charm.

Tears streak down my already-moist cheeks.

And not for the last time that day.