ORANGEBURG, S.C. — It's always a celebration when a loved one is graduating from college, but it's a rare event when two family members walk the stage together.
"Being able to walk across the stage was amazing because not everybody got the chance to due to COVID," said Gari Forehand. "Also, I had my mom walking the stage as well."
"I was excited because it was a long time coming," Eydie Moody said.
Gari Forehand and her mother, Eydie Moody, recently graduated from Claflin University at the same time.
"We're always together anyway, so this was just one more thing for us to do together," explained Moody. "I personally felt like this was her time."
"I was honestly speechless," said Forehand. "My mom said she was going back to school and get her degree, and I was fully behind her."
This isn't Moody's first trip across the stage. Moody got her associate degree in criminal justice back in 1995. She says her family was the driving factor for her to go back to school to get her bachelor's degree after putting it on hold due to several life experiences.
"I want to say never give up," expressed Moody. "That was part of my issue because I had come so far, and I only had a few classes to take. I said to myself, okay, if I expect my children not to give up something they're doing, I didn't want it to be another ten years to get my bachelor's degree."
Gari Forehand recently was accepted into Claflin's master program for business administration with bachelor's degrees off their to-do lists. Her mother is still working at her job at a local law enforcement agency as a civilian employee.