I Blinked
At my son’s high school graduation yesterday, the principal gave a speech and said “Remember the day you dropped them off at kindergarten, and someone warned you not to blink?” Well… I blinked, and now it’s over. I was prepared for the ceremony… …and afterwards we went out for an amazing vegan dinner. The food was incredible. I enjoyed the giant cookie vicariously, since I don’t eat sugar. Then we went for a walk around beautiful downtown West Palm Beach. It was a night to remember- just what you would want to mark a big occasion. At graduation, the valedictorian spoke about everything the class of 2021 has been through. The tragedy our friends at Marjory Stoneman Douglas endured, in the town next to us. Nine of the kids who were killed there on February 14, 2018 should have graduated last night. He spoke about the pandemic, of course, and how painful it’s been to log into a google meet every day instead of going to school with their friends. I’ve been so sad all year about everything these kids have missed- the football games, concerts, band trips, prom… everything that makes school fun, and all the milestones of senior year. The graduation ceremony itself was modified due to Covid. For purposes of social distancing, the graduates were in a separate hall from the spectators. They did process in to our hall, briefly, so we could see them before processing out to their location. We watched most of the ceremony on a large screen. Although I’m still sad at how this year played out, I realized yesterday that all the years counted- not just this one. The class of 2021 who entered school together worked hard for twelve years to get to this moment. Last year there was no graduation at all, so I’m grateful for what we had. Before I know it, we’ll be sitting at his college graduation… and then his wedding… I’m afraid to blink again.