Setting up...
And when the senior class is all female, you hear "that is so CUTE!" a lot. The napkins, the succulents, the banners, the cupcakes... everything is soooo cute! Never in a million years will one of my sons say that. (Unless they are schputing).
Corsage time...
These 3 girls have gone to school together for 13 years,
from shy little Kindergarteners to seniors!
Their original class was 9 students, but one by one the others moved away, dropped out or pushed to graduate a year early. Only these 3 stuck together. And they finished up on the same day.
Keynote speaker was A's boss and uncle.
He did a great job despite his professed nervousness.
(I think he was making a wise crack about A here because he "had the floor" and she couldn't do anything about it.)
The High School singing one of their songs from Choir Fest.
The dreaded senior speech she labored over all week...
And all the hard work pays off!
We are incredibly lucky to have an excellent long-term principal/High School teacher. He has been there all of her school years (and longer). He was a favorite of our children. We always told him he has to teach as long as we have children in school, after that we don't care. lol
Only one set of grandparents were able to attend.
(The paternal grandparents had the dilemma of 2 granddaughters graduating the same evening.)
We were so very blessed to have almost the entire Stauffer family in attendance, from out of state. (We are intimately acquainted with that long drive -the effort & expense required- so we are aware it's no small feat to have all 5 uncles show up.)
The gift table
The girls chose a super simple snack of popcorn & cupcakes...
...and strawberry lemonade.
She got a lot less cash than her brothers, but a lot more "stuff".
Proving the theory that girls are easier to shop for than guys??
As a preschooler, she could hardly wait to go to school like her older brothers. She was the youngest in her class, with a September birthday, but there was no holding her back. When she started Kindergarten, she loved school so much she would go to school all day, come home and play school all evening. She wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. She went through some tough social stuff later and lost the enthusiasm for school. But she persevered and was hard on herself when she got less than straight As. We are proud of the beautiful young lady she is becoming.
When I was her age, I had my life mapped out. Not that it turned out at all according to my map! So perhaps she's farther ahead to not have a plan for her future.
We have had so many people asking "Well, how does it feel to have your last one graduating?" I get the impression we're supposed to be sad about this. We are not. I've never been the kind of mother that moaned because her children were growing up too fast. Frankly, I'm thrilled to be finished paying tuition, having to do things like school cleaning and hot lunch. We did our time [as school patrons]. We are happy to move on to the next stage. I'm looking forward to seeing what next spring is like when our schedule does not revolve around school events- Track & Field, Field Trip, studying/quoting 5 chapters of Bible Memory. For the first time in 17 years we won't have to schedule our vacations around the school calendar. Somehow I fail to see why I should be blinking back sentimental tears.
In the event I am suddenly attacked by a bad case of nostalgia come fall, I'm sure I can always volunteer to make hot lunch or put up a bulletin board. Of course, we will still have some involvement in the school since I wear the hat of school secretary. At least they haven't asked me to resign or retire yet.
Photo Credits: Amy Stauffer/LifeStory Photography
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