I forgot how busy the end of the year was, especially with different school schedules for four different kids. Even as we try to remember where we are supposed to be on which day, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude that we are HERE in this place.
This year we have a kindergarten graduation and an eighth-grade graduation reminding us that it is the end of preschool in one stage of our lives and the end of middle school in another stage of our lives. And maybe it’s something about coming to the end of a journey that beckons back to where it all began. It reminds us not only of where our children were, but also of where we were.
Am I a better parent than I was when he started preschool? Have I taught her to speak up for herself and question and search and discover? Where will the next school year lead?
If not for endings, then we wouldn’t have new beginnings. If we knew where we would be or where our kids would be at the end of the journey, would we even have the courage to take that first step? It is good and right to pause at the endings to offer gratitude and thanks and hope for the new journey that’s just getting started.