The annual rite of summer for those who work with the youth. Seniors and their families celebrating their graduation from high school. Friends and family gathering to share in their achievement. All sorts of food and treats and no cooking for weekends on end. What fun!
And a little sadness. It’s a goodbye to 4 years of your life. It’s a splitting of ways, of saying goodbyes. It’s never seeing your friends in the hallway everyday anymore. No more bad cafeteria food, no more buses to catch.
It’s also the beginning of a new path. For some, it’s college. For others, it’s work. But a new path nonetheless.
For me, it’s with seeing young men and women whom I’ve mentored going out into the world, spreading their wings and taking off to find their way. I wave goodbye with a mix of sadness and exhilaration, of hope and trepidation. Will they ever know how much they mean to me? How immensely I enjoyed serving them? Maybe. Maybe not. Those questions may never be answered, and maybe they will. Maybe they already know.
As I wave goodbye, I turn slowly to the next group of people I can share life with, and do it all over again.
