No, it's not December, and no, it's not my birthday. Today is the last day of school for students in the FWCS district. Though I graduated from high school (& college, for that matter) longer ago than I would like to admit, I am still excited and nostalgic as I wake my own kids for their last day of school. They'll say temporary good-byes to their friends. (Of course with facebook, Skype, and all the other modern devices, they won't be as isolated as I was from my friends over the course of the all-too-short summer.) They'll turn in books and clean out lockers and sign yearbooks. All things I miss, now that I am able to see those years through the colored lenses provided by age.
I did make them go today, though the ridiculousness of having the last day of school on a MONDAY, of all days, did make me consider, briefly, letting them start the summer a day early. In the end, I hope they understand why I made them go. They would miss that one last chance to see their friends, to collect phone numbers and emails, to look at that crush face-to-face (my 15-year-old son, ONLY, I hope), to bring home any last minute artwork, poem, or essay. I feel wistful for those experiences as I write this and long to spend the summer days with them, though my work does not allow it. (Which sucks, quite frankly.)
And so, even though my own school days a long over, it's with a sigh that I see my children come to the end of another year.
