Dear All:
I saw this on a treasured friend’s FaceBook post and decided it was worth re-sharing…
Here’s to the kids who were supposed to get their braces off after two long years, and now have to wait a few more months.
Here’s to the kids who couldn’t wait to get their driver’s license, and now they check daily to see when the DMV will open.
Here’s to the kids who are wondering if there will be any sort of graduation ceremony culminating 13 years of school, or if they will get to attend freshman orientation over the summer at their selected college–or if there will even be a fall semester.
Here’s to the kids who are wondering if they will miss their first time as a camp counselor or employee at the Froyo stand or the internship they worked so hard to get.
Here’s to the kids who were hoping to get their first kiss at the prom.
Here’s to the kids who dreamed of going to States in track or baseball or show choir.
Here’s to the kids who wanted to put themselves out there and try something new this spring.
Here’s to the kids who worked hard all year to come back from an injury.
Here’s to the kids who found their tribe in the band or CHOIR or drama department and now feel lost without their people.
Here’s to the shy boy who was working up the courage to ask the new girl out for a movie. Here’s to the lonely girl who was just starting to make friends in her art class.
Here’s to the kids who have studied all year for their AP’s and now sit anxiously wanting to get it over and done with.
Here’s to the kids who have worked hard all year to build up their GPA and now are unsure if their grades count.
And here’s to the kids who miss school because it was their safe place, where they were fed, where someone showed they were valued and loved.
Here’s to the kids whose lives are forever changed, forever branded with the mark of a virus that they do not fear but impacts them greatly.
We talk about big events like proms and graduations and college tours, but it’s not the big things they are missing. It’s the moments woven into these milestones, the imprints of these rites of passage.
We won’t know the long-term effect this will have on our kids for years, so let’s lift them up while we can.
Their grief is real, even if it seems small to us.
Their sadness is justified.
Their lives are changed.
May we remember their perspective is small and their feelings are big.
We can’t give you back the moments, the experience, the time, but we can acknowledge it hurts.
Here’s to the kids. ♥♥♥
I check in with my choirs via ZOOM. Monday night at 7p. The end of the week at 1p and 1:45. They make it if they can. After the general greeting, I place them all on mute and then unmute, one at a time, to check-in, to hear what they have been up to. The Monday night group ends with an In-House Scavenger Hunt – broken into four teams – one point for each item they bring back to the screen…a slice of bread, a hammer, a frying pan, a piece of cheese, a newspaper – BONUS POINTS – a VHS tape… I ask that they keep their ZOOM on so I can hear their chatter and laughter. Once the points are tallied, I ask for “proof” by showing me their slice of bread (“Retz, I’ve already eaten it!), their hammer, their frying pan… It’s silly but the laughter is refreshing and it creates a brief respite from whatever they are experiencing in their homes during this unprecedented time.
We have one week until Spring break – yes, later than most. So the assignment for everyone in the department this coming week was to create a Photo Essay – An assignment I completed first; so that they would know my responses as well. See below and use if you’d like.
I am still sharing practice tracks of music with my singers. One more Spring Concert piece for two choirs in the unlikely event we are returning. My request so far is that “we have to be ready at a moment’s notice IF we are permitted to return and perform”. I think, at this point, they would settle for a parking lot performance. Social distancing, of course.
Be well and stay safe and healthy.
As always, thanks for reading.
Barbara