During the drive from the Honolulu International Airport to what was supposed to be a holiday-time breakfast yesterday, sportscaster Robert Kekaula asked his mother: "What's the one promise I've made that I've never fulfilled?"

Anne Kekaula said: "To graduate."

At her son's instruction, she opened a package. It contained his graduation cap.

"She was blown away," said Kekaula, who met the requirements for a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Hawai'i. "She thought she had mom's intuition. But I guarantee she didn't see it coming."

Tasting the salt of her tears, Anne asked: "Robert, you're actually walking? You're doing the whole thing?"

He nodded.

He then drove his father, Sam, and his mother to the Stan Sheriff Center for the commencement ceremony.

"I did it for her — and for me," said Kekaula, 43. "And I couldn't let my daughter (Tiera) beat me. My daughter is a junior now. That would be far too embarrassing if she beat me."

In 1987, Robert was balancing a full course load and two jobs. He also was awaiting the birth of his daughter.

"Something had to give," he said. "I chose school. And my mom said I chose poorly."

He went on to become KITV's sports director, color analyst for UH football broadcasts, and a successful music performer and producer.

Kekaula never forgot his promise. But work and family demands hindered each attempt.

"I've fallen off the wagon seven times," he said.

Then the past spring, he consulted with UH academic advisers. He was told he needed to pass three classes to complete his so-called "25-year plan."

Kekaula took two courses during the summer. This fall, he was enrolled in an ethnobotany class and lab.

"I'm not a science guy," he said. "It was tough. But I aced the final. That's all that mattered. My goal was to be a curve buster. I think I did that."

Along the way, he acknowledged, "It was actually fun. I didn't enjoy school in '87, but I enjoyed school in 2008."

The best part, he said, was walking into class "while everyone is staring at you. Half of them are staring because they recognize me. The other half are thinking, 'Wow, he's kind of old.' "

He said radio personality Larry Price, who has a doctorate from UH, offered encouragement the past 20 years.

"I called him the other day, and I said, 'On Saturday, guess who's walking?' " Kekaula recalled. "He was blown away. He said, 'Now we have to work on the masters.' "

Since the summer, Kekaula had plotted to keep his plan secret from his mother. When he was assured of meeting the requirements, he called his father, who crafted the breakfast invitation.

Anne and Sam live in Kona.

"I kind of knew something," Anne said. "He wouldn't get me up at 4 o'clock in the morning just to have (breakfast)."

Kekaula said: "I don't think I could get her a better Christmas present than my college degree. Nobody in my family has ever graduated from college."

Anne said: "He always completes his goals. He always does. He works really hard. He's got a career, and he has a family, and he's very active. I'm very proud of him. This is really nice. This means an awful lot to both of us."

Visit Tsai's blog at http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com.