First Days

My mom says she had to walk me to my classroom every day of first grade. And that finally, when second grade started, she had to lay down the law and send me to Mrs. Darrity's classroom all by myself. I can remember walking those huge halls to my classroom, eyes on my saddle oxfords and what felt like the weight of the world on my seven year old shoulders. Oh the fear of the first day of school!

I think that same nervousness followed me through college. The scenery changed, but the nervousness didn't. First days are always scary.

Today my sister started her first day of 3-K. To say I feel that time passed by too quickly is an understatement. Chad and I went to see her last night and I watched her walk into the kitchen to get something off the counter. That little show of independence made me sad because not too long ago, she was just crawling, and then toddling, the kitchen counters still a world away. Now she is running and reaching and growing even more. If growing pains are this hard for me as I watch my sister, I can't imagine what they must be like for a parent.

I talked with my stepmom, J, and I could tell that the thought of sending GJ to school was really tough on her. So she's making my dad take her and deal with the tears that will soon follow when GJ realizes that today is going to be a little different and she's going to be taking the next step away from being a baby into being a big girl. I think Dad is just as nervous as GJ is about this whole first day of school thing.

I am anxious to see how she does on this, one of many in the waiting line of "first days" in her life. If I know my sissy, she will be just fine. It's really the rest of us, the ones watching it happen and wishing back time, that I worry about.

Good luck today, GJ!