Turning another page...and saying goodbye

It was the last home football game last night. As the color guard coach, that kinda means my job is over for the season. It was our last performance. During the game, they honored the Seniors (football, cheerleaders and band members) I have two girls on color guard that are seniors. The band members got roses from someone they picked. It was sweet and there were lots of hugs.

After the game, there were lots and lots of pictures. Seniors taking pictures with each other, with directors, with coaches and with family. They were preserving memories in time. They were hugging and laughing and a few tears were shed. I told the band director that I didn't know how she did this every year. She joking said that she hated it and didn't want them to go off and live their lives. Somehow, we both knew it was only partly a joke.

One of my senior girls wrote notes to everyone in the guard including me. She's been amazing to get to know. She's a wonderful young woman and I cannot wait to hear about what she discovers in life and where she goes. She has the whole world ahead of her and made several profound statements last night, one of them being that she never thought this day would come.

Boy do I know what she's saying! I never actually thought I'd ever had a high schooler. I know its three years till I have a senior getting ready to leave my home, but nights like last night remind me it's a lot closer than I thought.

All of the sudden my heart ached for her parents knowing this was the last bunch of holidays that they knew all their girls would be living at home. The last year they knew they would all sit around the table for Thanksgiving. The last year they knew that on Christmas morning they would all wake up in the same house. The last year they knew that they would ring in one last New Year with their family.

It was a picture of a not-to-far-away future for our family. We have so little time with our kids. I know friends who have had adult children come home, but that's not the same. We only have a snap shot in time with our kiddos in our home, under our protection and guidance, living by our rules and being fed physically, emotionally and financially by us.

As I said goodbye to my first color guard, my heart ached. I know I will see these girls again, but this part is over. It was the last performance. For the families of seniors, it's a year full of lasts. The list gets long and as I talked to this one mom, she said it doesn't feel real. She said she didn't think it would set in until her daughter moved out.

It seems like yesterday when I was marking calendars with firsts and now I'm getting ready to celebrate lasts. My kids are growing. My life is forever changing. I guess I never thought about that the milestone would go from the first laugh and the first bite of food to the last performance, the last school dance, the last day of school.

For the last color practice, I had the girls relax a bit before the game. I'm going to miss this a lot.

Last warm up finished with a bang.

By they way they were relaxing...not collapsed because of practice. 

  

Last line up.

Ready for the very last pre-game show.

I didn't take nearly enough pictures.