Helloooo High School

Taking a break from the craziness of my last post. I’m still overwhelmed at the chord it struck among so many of you. Let’s chat pomp and circumstance, shall we?

It seems as if there’s a graduation ceremony for every grade these days. Am I right? But, in our family, our children only attend two schools: one for elementary/middle and another for high school. When graduating from one to the other, I believe that calls for a celebration. May I present, the eighth grade graduate. You know, the one who’s heart I’m working so hard to protect.

The events leading up to this day – the last school Mass, the last carline with all my chicks in the van, the last retreat and everything in between – really had me choked up. I’m not lying when I tell you I was having a really tough time seeing my oldest start to spread his wings. There was a part of me that worried if I had really done enough to prepare myself for this moment.

Silly mom. There is nothing I could’ve done to prepare me for it’s bittersweet beauty.

Mostly, I was worried about completely falling apart in the pew during graduation. I’m happy to report that didn’t happen. It was a close call there for about three seconds, but eventually? Joy won out.

The girls did a lovely job as hospitality greeters and John Paul as an altar server.

Will confidently walked into that church, delivered a rocking welcome speech on behalf of the class and gathered his awards and diploma. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that kind of exuberant joy before. It was happiness, mixed with pride and excitement. There was a dash of reflection and perhaps a tiny bit of sadness over a parenthood season completed. But mostly? I just loved that moment. Every last ounce of it.

Oh, and then we partied. You’ll have to trust me on that one. I didn’t take ONE SINGLE PHOTO of the reverie. Sign of a good party, me thinks. To the Sisters, Dcn. (now Fr.!) Tom and the grandparents who helped us celebrate, thank you! The kids made a sign for Will, filled with candy greetings (thank you Susan and St. Pinterest) and well-thought out notes. It was a hit.