Two Graduations

Both of my beautiful 11-year old granddaughters graduated from elementary school this week. This provides fodder for an abundance of emotions and thoughts for all the adults in our family. We are by turns proud, nervous, clingy, nudging, and misty-eyed--and this is only elementary school. The kids seem to be mostly glad that they are moving on to the next thing. Sure they will miss their friends and their schools, but there's a new adventure ahead. For Joe and I, it's another reminder that the conveyor belt that is life just keeps moving forward, ready or not.

My granddaughters attend two different schools so the ceremonies were very different. Yet watching all the parents in each audience, I was reminded again how deeply people love their children. They are the hope carriers for every generation. Both faculty and parents were so tender, so encouraging and affirming, so eager for them to enjoy this landmark moment in their fleeting childhoods.

Isabel's class wore matching "I Survived" t-shirts and had an informal ceremony focused on honoring their school and their years of camaraderie and friendship there.

We're just grateful we get to be present at such moments. It's such a privilege to share their lives. They are beyond question the most important people in our world and their is no sacrifice for them that is not worth the price.

Isabel isn't one for a lot of fuss, and she only wore these leis for a second, but she tolerated the attention and the ever-present camera pretty well. She seemed to like this squeeze from her Mom best of all.