A summer night

The first night of summer, and here I am thinking about the whirlwind of this year. It's strange and most people who are out of school probably don't still measure their lives in school years, but rather calendar years... I measure my life in school years. I make my summer resolutions in June and make my career resolutions in September. So looking back at the past year and my events in my family and work lives, you can understand my joy and my sorrow/disbelief/exhaustion.

I've cried off and on all day. It's not becoming to be a waterworks, esp since as a blue eyed girl my eyes get pinkish red and my eyelids swell if I cry for a total of more than 15 minutes. This morning I was so excited to just close the chapter on this year and looking forward to starting my next year with some summer resolutions. As the day went on and my time with my students waned I got emotional. This group of kids I distinctly and vividly remember when they were five and waddling in the door as kindergarteners. I remember trekking through the mud at the Outdoor Learning Center with them as second graders. I remember building our simple machines and eating popcorn during tutoring as third graders. And I remember this year. The ups and downs of friendships, their personalitites developing into little adults and their brains giving me back awesomeness during our lessons together.

Last night was graduation and today was one long slow goodbye. They have taken a piece of my heart with them as they left this summer. They've made a difference in my life. I hope I've made some little elf footprint of a difference on theirs. As hard as it was to leave Cade everyday coming to school, they made it easier. As soon as they came through my door I could drop my sadness and turn it on with them. I actually lost track of time teaching them and planning for them and thinking about them. They taught me that my heart has room for both Cade and teaching, and this must be the right job for me if I can love both at the same time.

I love my school babies. And to not end on a totally sappy note. I'll leave you with one of their jokes. "How do you wake Lady Gaga?" "Poke her face"