Is there life after Graduation?

its done, its finished university has been completed and now its time to get on with life. 'Get on with your life', that is what my father has been saying to me lately, now that i am finished its time to get on with my life. that's easy to say but you have to know where your going to just get on with it. for me i suppose its easy i finished university with a good degree and unlike a lot of graduates i have a job in the area that i have studied.
The past two months have raced, iv moved out of my student digs and into a new home with my partner, a huge move for me, something that i never really saw doing but so far i enjoy it and its nice to wake up with someone you love.
I have started my new job which gives me a good warm feeling of stability and in a week my partner and i will go on holiday the first in a long time and hopefully the beginning of many. so all is good.........
well maybe, you see when you think that all is good something has to come and smack you in the chops. ill explain.
being a family of the 21st century my parents are divorced and have been for the past 13 years. both my parents have partners now and live their very different lives away from each other. the friction between my two parents have always been there as it was my father that strayed and left my mum and this left a nasty taste in my families mouths for a long while, however 13 years have passed and the taste has faded. until last week, you see when you graduate in my university you are only given two tickets to give the family. so they can come watch you get that very sweaty handshake by some overdressed toff who cant pronounce your name correctly. (you don't get your scroll till later in the year) two tickets for a guy who has to families and he cares about them equally, straight away i knew this was gonna put some noses out of joint.
for eye looking in on the day it went well, we looked a happy family, mother, father sisters, brothers and little niece. however if people could see what was really going on they would realise that things were less than happy.
my father had been deeply hurt that i had chosen to keep is partner out of the day, my mother understood why her partner could not be there and there was no problem. but the decision to keep my fathers partner out of this special day had caused eruptions and and my father was now torn. he did not stay for the meal in fact he didn't even stay for a drink or to see my new apartment that i had just moved into with my partner. instead he made a lame excuse that he had to leave. i later found out that this as a condition made by his partner that if he should come to the graduation he must not stay any longer than the ceremony. and there it is.
the point when you realise that your father, your blood has made the choice but what hurts is that he can twist it around to make me feel bad for me wanting my family at my graduation. this whole situation goes even deeper in to what is a longer petty story that once only pushed away his family, his mother and brothers and sisters but now i fear that this could result in him pushing away his own son.
i can see this happening and although i do not want this to happen i am standing firm that i will not apologise for my achievement and will not back down.
so is there life Graduation? well i have a job, a lovely home and my partner loves me as much as i do her. i think so.