graduation prep

by Shawni May 17, 2019

May 17, 2019

This is happening in a matter of days:

DAYS I tell you!

Yep.

My third child setting off into the wide, blue yonder of LIFE after high school.

We are both filled with excitement and trepidation about that fact. Her trepidation comes because she’s always had a romanticized vision of high school and I think in so many ways it’s lived up to those expectations. She adores it just like her mother did almost thirty years ago (yikes!) and is so melancholy about leaving.

And also she’s moving across the globe to a little island (which is scary, but I have to say that that part of all the emotions rumbling around is more on the side of elation than of trepidation at this point…maybe that will change when we’re waving goodbye come the end of August…).

My trepidation comes because she’s leaving me. And I know by now that kids don’t really come back. She will leave a gaping hole here at home.

The month of May is nuts no matter which way you look at it: those days before the last school bell rings. Summer scheduling ramping up. Finals preparation. Household chores falling apart as the excitement seeps in. Backpacks filled with crumpled papers, all graded, broken pencils and gum wrappers, emptied in various places throughout the house. Summer so close you can taste it.

But the month of May ramps up a bit more when one of your children is getting ready to leave their life at home in the wake of their journey.

The good thing about May, though, is that you get to spend a lot of time with your senior.

We’ve had the chance to capture her senior-self as well as we can:

Elle took these ones when we were in California:

We whipped up her graduation announcement together. Here’s the front:

And the back…although with all the details omitted on the left…

She was pretty excited to get these puppies in the mail:

…and worked her heart out addressing them so beautifully in calligraphy.

And we went and stuck them all in the mail.

It’s so weird to see her in this outfit:

We stole away to their football field with her two best friends to capture some pictures before all the craziness begins.

It was on Mother’s day, right after the rain when everything was so beautiful and the light was just perfect, lighting up those three already-bright beautiful faces.

And this is going to seem like a lot of pictures but believe me, there are LOTS more where these came from! Ha!

Had to get the mama in there for one or two…

This girl below, the one holding phones and making them laugh while we took pictures, is going to miss these girls like nobody’s business.

They are all SO good to her.

But like it or not, they’re walking off into the sunset of those high school days next Thursday!

So many things going on before then, but I know I’ll blink and it will be here.

Grace is speaking at graduation and we’re all pretty excited about that. It will be interesting to see if the cooler weather forecast (only 84 on Thursday as opposed to the over 100 days in the past) holds out for us as we sit on those bleachers and watch all those kids get their diplomas. Crossing our fingers!

Shawni

the people who made me Mother, and what we did on Mother’s Day

4 comments

Living Life in the Lowcountry May 17, 2019 - 4:36 pm

Congratulations to your Grace! Our youngest just graduated last Friday from college, the years just fly by!

Jessica Wilson May 20, 2019 - 1:59 am

Congrats!! Where is going

likeschocolate May 20, 2019 - 7:12 am

Oh man! You must want to freeze time as baby number 3 is about to leave the house! COngratulations Grace!

Christi May 20, 2019 - 1:53 pm

Congratulations, Grace! xo

graduation prep

the people who made me Mother, and what we did on Mother’s Day

powderpuff football and an unrelated disclaimer

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