The Long and Short of It: It's Not Nothing (Graduation)

A couple of years ago, a friend who was midway through her daughter's senior year shared that she was struggling. Her feelings were layered and complex: she was excited for the significant milestones ahead - graduation and moving on to life after high school - but at her core, she was sad. Sad her daughter's high school career and extracurriculars were coming to an end...sad her daughter would soon leave for college and the dynamic in their home would change. 

An acquaintance had been part of this conversation, and after listening to my friend's feelings, the acquaintance chimed in with a response that to this day sticks with me as one of the most bizarre instances of women not supporting other women. She ridiculed my friend, telling her that her feelings - at least those of sadness - were wrong, and declared that the only acceptable emotions when a child graduates high school and ventures off on their own were happiness and excitement. My friend and I sat in stunned silence, trying to process both what we'd just been told and the fact that neither of us agreed.

Many years ago, a wise woman (the mother of this friend, incidentally) sent me an article about this stage of life. "It's not a death. It's not a tragedy. But it's not nothing either." 

Throughout the last couple of years I've been presented with quite a few opportunities to learn and then reinforce the concept that "two things can be true." This stage of life is a perfect example of that concept: my friend could feel both sad that one chapter of her life, her daughter's life, and their family's life together was coming to an end and happy and excited for her daughter. And now, I can feel both sad that one chapter of my life, Will's life, and our family's life together is coming to an end and happy and excited for Will. This is not a death, or a tragedy. But it's not nothing either. 

~

We did our graduation dinner on graduation eve, since the ceremony didn't start until 8pm, and we were joined by both my parents and Tom's parents.

Graduation took place on a warm, humid summer(esque) night, which is evident as you scroll through the pictures and look at our hair. In addition to the grandparents, my friends and their daughters/Hallie's friends joined us for the ceremony. How lucky we are to have people in our lives who show up.

One of my favorite aspects of our graduation ceremony is the "hug line" - all of the high school teachers line up to say goodbye to (and sometimes take selfies with) the seniors after they cross the stage. 

After the ceremony, everyone mingles outside - in the humidity, if you recall - until the campus police make you go home. It was a great night.

It's hard to believe this chapter - graduation, senior year, high school, his childhood - has come to an end. What a gift to have lived it so fully and to be so sad it's over.

The Long and Short of It: Classic Will (Senior Pictures)

 

Will wasn't all that enthused about taking (another round of) senior pictures - especially since we took the required yearbook, cap and gown, and diploma pictures right before the school year started - so I didn't push all that hard. Come the end of April, however, he decided he might be willing to take a few more pictures, so I quickly booked our friend Danielle (Danielle House Photography) for a short session.

Two weeks prior to the session I suggested Will get his hair trimmed. (His last cut was this one - scroll down to #4 for the story and accompanying photos - and his hair has been growing like a chia pet ever since.) He didn't do it. One week prior to the session I suggested Will get his hair trimmed. He didn't do it. On the day of the session, he woke up and declared he would get his hair trimmed...except it was Mother's Day, and not a single barber or salon was open. So that's why his hair looks the way it does - classic Will.

Two weeks prior to the session I suggested Will choose his outfits. He didn't do it. One week prior to the session I suggested Will choose his outfits. He didn't do it. Less than an hour before the session Will put on (what he thought would be) his first outfit and the shorts were...um...TIGHT. He picked a different and inferior first outfit. Then he put on (what he thought would be) his second outfit and the shorts were...um...dirty. He picked a different and inferior second outfit. So that's why his clothing looks the way it does - classic Will.

At the end of his session and after shooting some fun disc golf shots (in his perfect-for-him third outfit), we decided Will would wrap things up by jumping into the lake after one of his discs. He's done this 100 times before and doing it one more time for the camera felt like the perfect way to actually wrap up the session and symbolically wrap up his senior year. So that's why he ended the session soaking wet in the middle of a pond - classic Will.

I had a vision for what Will's senior pictures - the session and the images - would look like, and as I'm sure you've figured out by now, the end result didn't match my vision at all. The end result was better, because it was classic Will.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Classic Will.

BCS friends, I highly recommend Danielle! She fit us in last minute, delivered our photos quickly, and made the entire experience far less stressful than it could have been (especially given the hair and attire debacles 😉). 

The Long and Short of It: Kitten Season

 

After the Harvey Washbangers litter, Americano and Affogato stayed with us for a little under a month. These little caffeinated beverages were a handful, and I admit I was a little relieved when they went to their forever homes. (To be clear, they weren't bad kittens. It's just that some kittens are harder than others to share a bathroom with, and these two 1) didn't believe in personal space and 2) wanted to climb our legs ALL THE TIME which made doing anything in the bathroom something of a challenge.) They were with us long enough - and they were brave enough - to come out into "gen pop," which Popeye greatly enjoyed.

Then this past weekend, we babysat another foster's kittens while they were traveling. The Crackers - Ritz, Cheese-It, Graham, and Triscuit - were timid but otherwise sweet and incredibly easy, as far as fosters go. I know they're going to make wonderful additions to their forever families, so if you're interested in any of them, let me know! (As I'm writing this, Ritz is pre-adopted but the others are still available.)

Ritz

Cheese-It

Triscuit

Graham

We'll have kind of a hard time with long-term foster placements this summer because we're in and out so much, but we hope we can continue to have little ones visit us for short periods of time while their long-term fosters travel themselves!