Back in the early 1700's when I was a kid, our parents threw us out of the door in the morning after a hearty bowl of oatmeal, and let us back in if we could show them a decent report card at the end of the day. Those were simpler times, when your teacher could snitch on you for rotten behavior and not worry that they would get sued. When you took your lunch to school in a metal lunch box, and only graduated once, not every time you moved up a school. Ah, the good old days.
I wasn't a terrific student. Maybe okay, but I was no award winner. So I am all the more impressed when one of my spring-offs makes happy ripples in the pond of his or her life.
We got an invitation to the Middle School awards ceremony for Adam. It didn't say what he would be getting, so the event held a little mystery for us all, even Adam.
At the ceremony he was called up early in the program to stand with the other Honor Students in recognition of a GPA over 3.0. Not bad for a kid who jumped over from homeschool in January. I thought it might take him a while longer to get his bearings in public school, but he seemed to have no trouble at all. He had come home each day, done his homework without being asked (I know, cool, huh?), and generally made pretty good choices. Honor student material for sure.
Then came the rest of the program with high honors and uber-high honors, and "I-will-be-performing-brain-surgery-in-10-years" honors. There were a few kids that were up 5, maybe even 8 times. I became one of their fans just listening to all the things at which they excelled, and feeling glad to know that my kid was brushing shoulders with them.
Then Adam's favorite teacher got up to read out his award winners. He paired each with a quote, and toward the end of his list, he said, " "With great power comes great responsibility." In a really difficult 7th and 8th grade class, this guy always chose to do the right thing!"
I knew what name he would read next.
Adam.
My eyes were already filled with tears because I knew this about Adam. His teacher had sent an email early in the semester saying the same thing; that no matter what the rest of the class was doing, Adam could be counted on to be doing the right thing. Always. Of course, I hadn't needed to be told. We know this about Adam. I mean, sure, he's not perfect, in fact, about two months ago he may have rolled his eyes at me, and his room has the funk of death, but his moral compass is always pointed in the right direction. I have actually seen Adam abruptly walk away from a situation that seemed to be heading for trouble. He's a good kid.
Later in the week there was a promotion ceremony. I'm not sure why. They are all heading off for High School whether they like it or not. 500 people crammed a quad in 90+ degree heat with camping chairs and strained to hear their special kid's name called on the crackly and muffled loud speakers.
But though all of the hoopla seemed unnecessary, I still got excited when Adam's name was called. I got on tip toes to see over the heads of the crowd that now crammed the quad shoulder to shoulder, and yelled a little "Yay!" in the .04 second pause between his name and the next. It's easy for my mind to rush ahead to the real graduation we will attend in four short years. I suppose it was good to have this dry run as a reminder to enjoy these last few years with him in our nest.
*****
I am very proud of you Adam. I imagine you may not read my blog posts until you are a grown up, but I know you will have always known how proud we are of you. You are sensitive and kind hearted. You will be a great man, and I know, because you are a great young man. You are a hard worker, an honest person, and a youth with integrity. I love you.
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| Adam and Jessica went to kindergarten together and remain supportive friends |
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| Quite the little crowd. Jonah refused to be in the picture. |
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