A new beginning

I just returned from watching my 6th grader's graduation and ceremonial walk down Belinder's school halls for the last time. I remember her first day of kindergarten and the little bit of trepidation she felt that morning as I kissed her good-bye and walked out, leaving her in her new classroom. And I remember her running out after school with open arms and a huge smile on her face. Confidence and joy.

I remember choir concerts, fall festivals, carnivals, poetry readings, the plethora of homework and papers coming home each day, parent/teacher conferences, report cards, awards, trophies, play dates, sleepovers, soccer, gymnastics, tennis, Brownies and Girl Scouts, violin, hero speeches, holidays and spring/summer breaks, the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, field trips, reading to her class, surprise lunches and being a room mom.

I know some of these things will continue during her middle school and high school years, but some of them are, sadly, left behind. And most of them will be forever different as she enters her teenage years. But as one poem from her graduation ceremony stated - this is a new beginning. A new start for Keile. And the start of a new kind of relationship for us. I have a little trepidation about that, knowing my relationship as a teen with my own mother. But I'm excited, too. And excited for my daughter and all the possibilities that await her.

I was so proud as she accepted her Presidential Award for academic excellence today, as well as her certificate of graduation. And, yes, I cried as she walked down the halls of Belinder, in her cap, for the last time. I couldn't help fast-forwarding to the day I'll see her walk across the stage at her high school graduation and again at college. But for now, I'll cherish the times to come and her new beginning.