Graduation Blues

The start of a new month. The start of which should be a very busy month, beginning with a fishing tournament and ending with a trip to Myrtle Beach. But, thanks to COVID-19, none of that will be happening. Baseball season will most likely be cancelled. There will be no Mother's Day lunch at my favorite restaurant. There will not be busy weekends and endless days where we fall into bed, exhausted from a ridiculously busy day. But, the thing that breaks my heart? P won't get to enjoy all his end-of-elementary-school activities. He won't get his last PBIS party. He won't get his last Water Day. And most of all he won't get to have his 5th grade graduation. Oh sure, the district keeps saying it's a possibility but I know the reality. P will not be sitting with his friends one last time, watching the 5th grade slide show, ribbing his friends and sharing their inside jokes. And the reality is that I think it's affecting me more than it is him. He doesn't really know what he's missing. He knows about the school activities but he doesn't know about the closure, about saying goodbye to some of his friends for the last time as they move to other schools. He doesn't know about the importance of getting his yearbook signed one last time. So, I keep my mouth shut. When he gets in a funk, because he misses his friends, I listen to him. I encourage him. I help him find the good things about being home during this time. Because he doesn't need to know. He doesn't need to know all that he's missing. He needs to know that he's loved and he's safe and that he has a lifetime in front of him to make more memories. In the meantime, I'll savor his elementary school memories, the friends he's made, the teachers he's been blessed with. Because, really, that's what it's all about right now.