Graduation weekend has come and gone...and so have the seniors. Last year, I didn't know them well enough after only a year of mostly trying to figure everything else out. But this year, it was rather overwhelming. Some of them have confided so much in me this year. I knew them pretty well by the end of the year. They asked me to be one of the speakers for their weekend, and I was honored to do so, but that talk was the hardest I've ever given. The weight of it was at times so heavy that I could hardly move. It finally came together . . . about an hour before I had to give it. Felt good, though. Felt right.
There were a lot of hugs and tears after the Commencement. Since I teach at a boarding school, some of the kids had been together 40 out of the past 48 months, 24/7. The knowledge that that time was over was almost impossible for them to deal with. They were glad to be graduating, but did not want to leave the security of their friends. I went home and tried to digest it all, but there was too much.
It was my birthday, too, and the class gave me a dozen roses. One of the first boys I met when I arrived on campus last year introduced me before I spoke. He told the story of helping me to move into my apartment and there were seemingly endless boxes of books. "What must this woman wear," he asked himself. "She has no clothes, only books!" Made me laugh, because the truth is I have a lot of books, but also clothes...
So now they're gone. And I, too, will be gone for the summer (mostly). When I come back, there will be others to step in and leave footprints on my heart. Yet another reason I teach.........
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