Graduation
Graduation services went very quickly. Two are now officially done with school. Even though you spend 13 years preparing for this moment, you still are not prepared for the moment they stand to cross the stage. The relationships we built with teachers in order to get these boys through school, the ups & downs academically and behaviorally, the frustrations, the successes, are all over now.
Two events that surprised me with their emotional impact:
1) seeing their friends crossing and realizing that those boys & some girls who practically lived at your house were now graduating and going off somewhere else. You knew your own children were leaving, not everyone else’s.
2) while the principal listed activities, organizations, etc. he asked each group to stand. When he called for the young men and women leaving for the armed forces, a HUGE number of our children stood - including both of mine. Instantly the crowd leaped to their feet for a standing ovation and I nearly lost it.
Three weeks from now there will be only two children left in my house. With the two dogs and one cat, I will feel like the house is empty. Fortunately during the remaining time, I am operating a revolving door of children. Someone is spending the night staying over every night and the refrigerator just keeps emptying. Perhaps teenagers eat so much that we will appreciate the moment we aren’t feeding them and actually get to keep some of our paycheck.
