Summer is my favorite season — it holds its own sort of magic with the hot days, muggy nights, family get-togethers and time on the water. Summer has truly become more than just a season for me; it’s a way of life.
But this year, things are changing. My oldest boy is starting school this week. Yes, the big Kindergarten … which everybody who’s anybody knows is quite the colossal deal these days. And, I can’t help but realize my summer will ending far too soon this year. Yes, it’s back to school, and the party is officially over.
Formal education requires structure, which means early to bed, early to rise … oh, and it’s time to buy those school supplies.
As I walked into the gymnasium at Russell Primary School for the Kindergarten orientation, I wasn’t prepared for what was inside. No, it wasn’t the crowd that caught my attention, or all the sounds of the enthusiastic children, or even the overwhelming feeling that my little boy is growing up and leaving me … but as I entered those doors, I was taken back. Twenty-six years later, school still smells exactly the same. How do they do that?
Suddenly I was a kid again walking through those doors. Memories of school days flooded into my head — things I simply had put out of my mind —the smells, the sounds, the cafeteria food … recess, favorite teachers and friends of long ago.
