Has been a while since I’ve written a blog post. I’m not  going to beat myself up about it. I have been busy with Life’s many turning points!

This being one of the biggest of them all for me~>Graduation Day.

My youngest graduated from High School this June. He’s the one facing the camera, with the big smile!

The Class of 2010…Wow! Unbelievable! Exciting  for him…but hard for me. A time of change and transition.  A new journey awaiting…not only for him, but for me too.

I say this for several reasons. One of them being that this coming September will be the first time in over 20 years that I won’t have a child in the public school system. It’s a very strange thing for me to contemplate, and on some level, feels like the loss of a friend.

As I sat in the stadium and watched him prepare to step up and receive his high school diploma…my heart stopped.

How could this be? My baby was finally going to be leaving public school? Finally going to graduate? Finally going to be on his own in the world of higher education?

In the blink of an eye,  four long years was coming to an end.

It has been a strange, melancholy, pensive time for me.

In contrast, my son is OVERJOYED to put that time behind him! I understand that.

As an educator who has spent years as a “Principal Mommy” as my youngest used to call me, it’s been a time of learning to let go.

No more PTA , Band Booster, GATE, Friends of La Serna, School Site  Council Meetings.

No more Back to School Nights to meet new teachers.  No more Open House excitement, searching  for my son’s best work on the teacher’s bulletin board.  No more calls from the school principal, reminding us of holidays or special school activities.  Lot’s of things that will “no more” be a part of what has defined me as a parent for over 20 years.

It’s definitely been a bit of a hard pill to swallow.

<~So here they are on Graduation Day…The “La Serna Boys” as we have lovingly called them these last four years. Friends to the end. Well…at least to the end of High School. Each so different from the next. Sharing one common core theme: 2010 Graduates. The smiles clearly radiating a joy that only comes once in a lifetime! A time that will never come again, captured for all, by the lens of a camera.

As I reflect on this time in the life of my son and our family, I am reminded that no matter the road that we take, in every twist and turn we must learn to “Seize the Day”.

I’m in the process as a Mom who is also an educator, of letting go of the old, comfortable places that I loved, not sure that I’ll love the new.

One thing though truly caught my eye and touched my heart.  As I captured this photo, it reminded me of a wonderful movie: Dead Poets Society.  A beautiful film that stands as a reminder of what our students are expecting of us everyday…giving them opportunities to truly “Seize the Day”.

I hope that as my son and all the many 2010 High School Graduates around the world prepare for the journey ahead that they will be met with passionate, inspiring teachers of  Higher Education who will never conform.

Teachers who will unceasingly strive to Carpe Diem.

So I leave you with this thought…Are you one of those teachers?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Ntqg2BiVg&feature=related]