Day 47: SALUTING OUR SENIORS

Today is my high school senior’s last day of “classes.” He still has his senior capstone project to complete and five AP tests to take (yes, I tried to talk him out of taking FIVE AP classes his senior year), but his “work” is done. (Or will be, as soon as he turns in his final Theology project, due in 14 minutes.)

It’s hard to believe that on March 13, when he left campus on a Friday afternoon, that he would never walk the halls again as a student. I thought for sure he’d go back. I thought we would retreat for a few weeks and return after spring break for the rest of the school year, a shortened baseball season, senior projects, AP exams, and all the senior traditions that make end-of-senior-year so memorable. But no. We are still at home and life is still on hold, cancelled, or virtual.

I think all parents of seniors would agree that our seniors are taking this better than we are as parents. They don’t complain or cry as much as we do (or maybe they cry in their bedrooms, like we do.) I know my senior misses his classmates and teammates immensely. He’s missing Prom, Graduation, Sports Senior Night, and other traditions unique to his school; traditions he’s waited for and watched for four years. And while there are many others who are hurting, hungry, sick, and lonely, this is still a real loss for our seniors.

Interestingly enough, the project he’s working on for Theology, is a video of what he’s learned this year about Catholic Social Teaching (CST). It was fascinating and heartwarming to listen to him talk about the Biblical Roots of CST, how we’re called to follow the commands of the Prophets and Jesus’s teachings, and how this time at home has led him to view life through the lens of what he’s learned at Mount Saint Joseph.

Sometimes I’m not sure if my tears are sad tears, or tears of pride. I could not love him more, or be more proud of him. I think they are tears of both.