When the Last Day of School Comes Abruptly

The end of the year is always filled with aggravation and joy,

Final exams and testing,

The stress of wondering if we’ll make it through all of the last things to do

So they’re prepared to go on to the next level,

And we are prepared to let them go…

I never thought I’d miss that stress!

Not to mention all the other things that I always enjoyed:

The end of the year concerts and performances and tournaments and dances and ceremonies,

The unofficial class parties and those movies we show the last week of school

(that are totally covering a learning standard if anybody asks)

The pride in their faces when they unveil the culminating project they’ve been working on all quarter,

The awards assembly and field day when I can let loose a little and I finally can talk to so-and-so

Without having to remind him to sit in his seat and use his inside voice

But what I’ll miss the most

Is them,

The goodbye hugs and final jokes,

The little handmade cards and notes

That we give to each other to let each other know

That even though we only had a year together,

We mattered to each other

And it’s so sad to realize

That we do not get our full year together,

That we don’t have the time to slowly let go of the little (and not-so-little) hands

we’ve been holding onto since August,

To launch them into their futures one step at a time, knowing we’ve done our very best

To give them what they need to be successful,

And even though we will continue to connect with as many as we can through other means,

None of us were prepared for that last day to be the last day,

Ah, how sadly reminiscent of all the other losses we face…

I can only hope that three quarters of the year was enough,

Enough for them to know they’re loved and cared for by many people

And that we will never stop wanting the best for them,

Enough for them to establish something solid enough to build on next year,

Enough to steady all of us in the midst of an unprecedented chaos

And there’s hope in knowing it’s not forever,

August will come again,

And though the hands we hold will be different hands,

Perhaps we will still be able to see these kids in the hallway

Or get an email from time to time

Where they let us know how they are doing and what they are learning,

And even though we missed out on a lot of the experiences we were expecting to have,

Sometimes goodbyes are not eternal

And endings don’t always have to be devastating,

Though we can give ourselves a little time

To be sad about all of the things we are missing out on.