Last week, we marked the end of an era in our family, as my sister graduated high school on June 10. It’s really the end of an era in so many ways. For one thing, my parents’ relationship with Augusta County Public Schools has changed. Now, instead of being parents, my mother’s role now is only that of sixth grade teacher, and my father is the supportive spouse. For me, her graduating high school is a reminder that my next step in life is coming along sooner than I realize – graduating college and getting the heck out of the house. And for my sister, college looms ahead. Soon she will be a freshman at Virginia Tech, and seeing new things and meeting new people, living in brand new surroundings, and with sparkly new Zords. Wait a second… scratch that last one. Nonetheless, though, one thing that’s important to note is that high school is over. She’s outta there! But as we discussed, the feeling doesn’t quite sink in until around August. And it has nothing to do with Virginia Tech orientation (or JMU orientation in my case), or even going off to college. Not at all. You really don’t feel graduated until the first day of school for the following year. It really sinks in when you see the bus come by and you’re watching it go past, or when you realize that it’s noon on a school day and you’re at home not partaking of formal education. More immediately, though, while people like me still had to do serious things, she and some of her friends on the day after graduation got together and drove across four different area codes (540, 434, 804, and 757 in that order – yes, I’m still a 411 geek) to go to Busch Gardens, and had lots of fun.
