Green: A parent’s graduation joy disrupted by news of Manchester concert attack

The first text alert arrived just as the soon-to-be-graduates began marching down the center of the arena.

They waved to friends and families, exchanging high-fives and smiles reserved for high school commencements.

The band began its first reprise of “Pomp and Circumstance” at 7 p.m. when CNN.com flashed across my iPhone screen: “Police in Manchester, England, are responding to a ‘serious incident’ after reports of loud explosions during Ariana Grande concert.”

As the superintendent welcomed the class of about 380 students and their families at Xavier University’s Cintas Center, The Guardian confirmed the situation in Manchester was grave: “UK police confirm fatalities after incident at Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena,” it texted.

Over the next 90 minutes, as the graduating class of 2017 at Sycamore High School received diplomas and hearty handshakes, the tragic details of a horrifying evening in the U.K., came into sharp focus: At least 50 injured. An estimated 20 dead. A bomber outside the arena. Horror inside after explosions.

And then, shortly after a smiling student – joyfully playing a mandolin and singing the appropriately themed Phil Collins’ song, “On My Way” – The Washington Post texted confirmation of what I feared the most: It was a “terrorist incident.”

NEW YORK CITY:Police step up patrol in following U.K. concert explosion

NEW JERSEY:concert promoters, parents react to Ariana Grande Manchester attack

ALFRED DOBLIN:Mourning the slaughtered lambs of Manchester

The emotions of a high school graduation run deep. I admit to wiping a tear or two away as I watched my blonde-haired daughter in the fifth row and green robe last night glowing with happiness and accomplishment as she celebrated the end of one life’s chapter and the start of another.

Yet, I also could not escape the mental images of other children — their friends, families and parents in another arena nearly 4,000 miles away in Europe. As we gathered in Cincinnati Monday night to celebrate the passage of life for our 18-year-old daughter, I contemplated the unexpectedly horrific scenes simultaneously playing out as a pop star’s concert was ending in Manchester.

The paradox of joy and tragedy was inescapable.

At the end of the commencement, an air cannon exploded. It showered green-and-gold confetti – the school’s colors – on the just-graduated students. I jumped at the sound and thought instantly of the explosions that rocked the Manchester arena that spawned such great heartache and tragedy.

I woke this morning to international headlines that told of splattered blood, broken bodies, wailing sirens and chaotic searches. The worst terror attack in Britain since 2005 was carried out, authorities suspect, by a lone suicide bomber. Early Tuesday, the Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility.

The attack stole the lives and innocence of so many young people.

The Grande concert “was meant to be a dream, not a nightmare” for the mother of a younger daughter from Glasgow. The New York Times describes how she had surprised her child with the concert tickets, part of a “bonding trip” and “a small, tentative step into the adult world.”

“How can I explain any of this to a 14-year-old?” she told The Times.

How can we explain any of this madness to any child?

We did not discuss the Manchester tragedy with Katy immediately after her graduation. Clutching her diploma and ceremony program tightly, she hugged aunts, siblings and grandparents. She celebrated her accomplishment.

Let her enjoy the moment just a little longer, I thought. A whole new world and bold adventures await.

And then I wondered: How many parents in Manchester, England, Monday night will never be able to say the same thing for their sons and daughters?