The End of an Era and a Challenge Ahead

For the past seventeen years, I’ve had at least one child in elementary school. Over the years, my days have been filled with class parties, volunteer hours, book fairs, class programs, etc. But those days are officially over now. Today was Malia’s last day of school as a sixth grader. It was a bittersweet day for me, knowing that my youngest is growing up much faster than I’d like. It was a rough day for Malia because she is leaving a place that is familiar, safe, and loved. Because yes, she loves school. When she has sick days and can’t attend, there are frequently tears because she is missing school. As she has counted down her last days at the elementary school, those tears have become more grievous as the number has waned. The sorrow is deep as well since she and her teacher have become good friends, buddies of one mind, if you will. They both have a bit (or a lot) of humor and sarcasm in them, and her teacher has told me that often she will think something but can’t say it because she is the teacher only to have Malia give voice to the exact same sentiment. We were all extremely skeptical about this particular teacher at the beginning of the year, but she has been amazing for Malia and will be greatly missed by her now that the year is over. 

This ending is even more emotionally charged due to the fact that Malia will attend a different middle school than all her school friends. It was a boundary change that Matthew dodged by being granted a special permit to stay at our previous middle school, but Malia has not been as lucky and will have to go to a school with which none of us are familiar. I wish I could change that for her, but I can’t. All I can do is support her and help her move forward with hope, always looking for the good in a tough situation. And it is a tough one. I was in the same situation, attending a jr. high with only a small number of friends from my ward. The remainder of our elementary went to a different school, so I know what it is like to walk into seven different classrooms and find exactly zero familiar faces. 

But time marches on and we must march with it. So I shed a tear or two for the ending of a phase of my life, and Malia’s, and she shed a few as well. I suspect there will be more tears in the future, but hopefully what starts off looking like a huge challenge (like Malia’s class assignment this year) will end up being a multitude of blessings in disguise.