This is that wonderful, exhausting, exciting time of year called the end of school.
Proud little peeps are graduating from one grade to the next. Tired teachers are trying to close out a jam-packed year, and parents are making summer plans.
This is that time of year that even though I am retired I continue to have those recurring dreams that I have not entered in all my grades. I have missing student work. There are piles of emails still unopened. I find it humorous and also very telling that these dreams still haunt me much like those dreams of still being in high school and not being able to find my locker.
As a parent and grandparent, it is an eventful and fun time of year to attend those awards days, music concerts, and field day events. All that work that went into the year on those rainy days, freezing days, and sweltering days all come together as a type of show piece of work proudly completed and the next school chapter awaiting after a couple of summer months bouncing from camps to vacation Bible schools to grandma's house.
This is that time of year marking a rite of passage that resonates with us all, young and old. All of us can remember those proud emotions of completing another year of school.
It seems like yesterday I was standing on the Bowling Green Gym's Stage in my green robe and graduation hat reciting the alphabet and then singing along with the crowd at my kindergarten graduation after completing a year with Ms. Bev Varnado.
And then twelve years later, standing on that same stage along with Ms Bev’s son, wearing a larger green robe, accepting a diploma, and ready to venture out into the world as a young adult.
I remember the Bible given to me at our Centenary Methodist Church upon graduation along with my fellow classmates Tamara, Sarah, and Christopher. I packed that Bible around with me from college to my new home with my husband until it literally fell apart.
And I remember all those spring afternoons and mornings in the Lee Road school gym watching my young sons stand up and proudly accept citizenship certificates, straight A certificates, and "most outgoing" for the child who, like his mother, never shut his mouth.
I also remember as a teacher for many years having the joy of passing out the same awards to those young ones who sat in my English class day after day while I tried to impart the gift of writing and recognizing a prepositional phrase.
This is that wonderful time of year for teachers who are on their last few ounces of fumes, holding on to the image of the beach that awaits with a straw hat and a good book.
Moms and Dads are relieved they made it through another round of report cards and sports events.
And children feel a bit more confident, a lot more relaxed, and holding that sense of pride that a task was completed, another year older has occurred, and popsicles and swimming pools are waiting. And for some, packing up to head out into a whole new world of next steps.
Take in a deep breath Mama’s and Teachers! You earned a moment to pat yourself on the back as teachers pass out those recognitions and mothers put them away in a drawer. You did good once again and that's a wrap!
