Marcelle descends the staircase to rousing cheers. Beaming, she adjusts her tassel and cap. “Glorious,” her chosen walkup song by Macklemore featuring Skylar Grey, pulses her exuberance:

“I made it through the darkest part of the night

And now I see the sunrise

Now I feel glorious, glorious

I feel glorious, glorious”

It’s graduation day at Joshua Station! Our first in-person grad celebration during the pandemic, and our hearts are in our throats.

The sweet: Marcelle has reached absolutely life-transforming goals in her two years with us, and now leans into more. She’s found an apartment in Arvada for a long-term home. She’s supporting her family in a job position she could never have imagined during the low, low season of life when she arrived. She’s grown into confidence and connectedness in mothering her two boys. She advocates and leads in her community.

The bittersweet: leaving.

Both the sweet and the bittersweet bring tears.

“I’ll always be part of the Joshua Station family, and I’ll always be visiting,” Marcelle reassures us. “I am so grateful. I’ve been through dark times. Even after I got here, during the beginning of the pandemic, I really struggled. I’m still working on things. Facing moving out of Joshua Station brought another hard wave. But I knew I had to keep moving forward, and I’m doing that.”

“We’re proud of you and look up to you,” chimes in a fellow resident.

“Our mom would be so proud,” Marcelle’s sister says, speaking from the heart about the mother they have missed for many years – one of the hard wounds in in their family story.

We also celebrate former graduates who had their ceremonies online over the past year: Prince and Denise’s family, Muje and Elhame’s family, and Maria’s family. We mingle over burgers and dogs, graciously provided and grilled up on site by Holly Dorr of Little Red’s Kitchen (Instagram @Littlereds_kitchen).

It’s as glorious as a grad party can get.