Class of 2023!

"DO NOT GO WHERE THE PATH MAY LEAD; GO INSTEAD WHERE THERE IS NO PATH AND LEAVE A TRAIL."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson





Driving home from my son’s school today--his last day at kindergarten, I saw a car with a congratulatory sign on its back windshield, “Congratulations Class of 2011!” I’m not a math whiz, but it took me about ten seconds to realize that my five-year old son would graduate from high school in 2023. 2023! Steam shot out of my ears when I tried to figure out my age then and what reunion I would celebrate in 2022. I would be 49 when my boy graduates and would have had my 30th High School Reunion! Let’s hope my mom’s Asian DNA is strong, because I envision myself decrepit. My daughter already asking, “Mom, why do you paint your hair?” My son replying, “She doesn’t have white hair! That’s when she’s 70!” Bless him….I need to be rich too since tickets back home for my reunion might be $5,000.00 then.

I hope my children will get to flow with a common group of students like my husband and I did, being from Guam. Small island, small town characteristics can be a nice thing. Being a part of my son’s school and seeing the joy in the 5th grade graduates today, knowing they would flow with their pack into middle school was heartwarming.

I know every child’s name in my son’s class. I know their parents’ faces, most of their names and it would be nice to maintain ties with many of them. A few of them have taken the time to be kind and genuinely interested in my family. Being military, we can be yanked from shore to shore. We’ve been lucky enough to maintain the same residence for the last 7 years. I hope for my son and daughter’s sake that we can stay. His kindergarten teacher was stellar, teaching since I was my daughter’s age. She has the wisdom and patience for five-year olds and my son grew intellectually and socially under her care. I hope to have my daughter in her class and with luck, she won’t retire soon. Oi! My daughter starts school in 2013, which means she graduates from high school in 2026! Ouch! Brain cramp! So, I will be 52 years-withered! My parents were begging for grandkids at that age! Time to eat better, rest, de-stress, exercise and save up. Who knows what college my kids will want to attend and I need to save for my 35th High School Reunion in 2027.

Congratulations to all graduates!

ESTA LATER!