Final Day

I just walked in from graduation which I love and hate. This is from from May 23, 2013.
Today was my least favorite day of the year, the last day of school. I don't really enjoy the first day- too chaotic- but I love almost everything else from mid-August to late May. Oh, we still have graduation tomorrow but it's a separate event. We still have a teachers' luncheon tomorrow and I've got a check list to complete and turn in but there won't be kids there and a school without kids is nothing. For some reason, I'm more nostalgic this May than usual. It might be that I had my favorite basketball team in the fifteen years I've been here or one of my all-time favorite classes, eighth period Gospels. I know this- after today, there are some kids I will never see again and that makes me sad. 

Schools  have their own cultures and traditions and WCS is no different. There are two songs I always start thinking about this time of year and both are youtubed (is that a word?) above. You see, at the end of every year there is graduation and senior chapel complete with videos of the kids and shots of the year.......and these two songs invariably are part of the production. They are as much a part of the season to me as Pomp And Circumstance only with lyrics. I think it's interesting that the Green Day anthem, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life),  was written as a breaking up song and not tied to caps and gowns; still, it's a good fit. One of the main reasons I moved to Houston in the summer of 1998 was the commencement exercise I witnessed when I came to interview. It was unlike any graduation ceremony I'd ever attended and that was part of the allure. I'll miss these seniors like I miss the ones from last year and the ones from the Class of 2011 and on and on. Only a few of them were in my class this year but I've taught many of them before. There will be tears shed tomorrow night and hugs and promises to stay in touch....and then it's on to the next reality. The cycle begins again immediately and that's the way it should be. You reach a certain stage and it's time to move on. The memories of each senior will vary- some were here from pre-K and some just came this year. Tomorrow night, they'll receive a diploma and a Bible. One proves where they've been, the other illuminates the journey they hopefully have embarked upon. Jesus talks about two roads, the narrow and the wide, and how only a minority find the former. As best as we could, we've made the case for the narrow; time will tell if that seed has taken root.

Applicable quote of the day:

"Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference."  Arie Pencovici To watch and listen to Graduation (Friends Forever), copy and paste or click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foyAOoVagWw To watch and listen to Good Riddance, copy and paste or click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnQ8N1KacJc God bless, Steve Luke 18:1 www.hawleybooks.com E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com