|
The ‘babies’ have graduated
We tend to see our children in series. For the past 23 years my frame of reference for all children in my circle of acquaintances has been my kids.
Other children could be described as “Elizabeth’s age” or “between Ellen and Scott.”
As they grew, my three provided a link to local schools. Elizabeth’s steady march through the grades provided an opportunity to know, at least by name, quite a few students. Between school and Scouts, church and sports, I came into contact with a lot of kids.
But in my personal classification system, big kids were whatever age Elizabeth happened to be, and Ellen’s age-mates were the little kids. That left only one category for Scott and his peers: the babies.
Watching Scott and his classmates stride confidently across the Ramsey Center stage Monday night, collecting diplomas on their way to their future, I recognized the scene for what it was: the babies, who had somehow morphed into adult-size people, were graduating.
My acquaintance with Scott’s classmates began more than 17 years ago in a Sunday school class Cliff Lovin and I once taught.
At one point, in that nursery, we had five members of the Class of 2004 – Scott, Allie Lewis, David White, Natalie Cantler and Ben Kehrberg; a sixth and seventh, Travis Railsback and Ashley Cook, arrived at Cullowhee United Methodist a year or two later.
In a picture of Scott’s day care “graduation,” we see another group. Here Scott is flanked by Nathan Medlin, Carrie Eidson, Kari Wilson, Dustin Huff and April Hicks.
Kindergarten brought Stanton Kidd and Savannah Dellinger into the orbit, and first grade produced Joddy Marchesoni. A Recreation Department soccer team yielded Tyler Melton and Rebecca Coward. I first remember Stephanie Kneller in Scott’s second-grade classroom, and a Summertime Sluggers team featured James Bryson. Third grade brought Bonnie Claxton and Greta Bates; Little League summers included Dan Coward, Brad Humes and Justin Jamison; Rec Department basketball brought Cody McMahan and Sean Shufelt; and indoor soccer produced Charlie Graning. Those elementary years also added Megan Parker, Ivy Stephens, Tommy Gibson, Patrick Orth and Matthew Kuehn.
Entering the world of Boy Scouts meant encountering Matt Welsh, Stephen Karby and Scott Persons.
Junior high years brought a branching out, and Scott’s Cullowhee orbit opened up to include some Fairview girls like Haley Beck and Jolene Jurss; they also brought some new faces to Cullowhee, including Michael Tennant, Michael Cox and Ollin Dunford.
Freshman year at SMHS saw the circle expand with the addition of Katherine Balcerek, Danielle Bowers and Martha Neslen. JV and varsity soccer included Chris Wofford, Kyle Baer, Josh Lord and Brian Holliday.
As 10th grade ended and the driving era began, it became apparent that I was not adding many new faces to my mental album of Scott’s classmates. Once that forced togetherness of school commutes is gone, kids stop telling you as much about their acquaintances.
But the group continued to expand.
Until Monday night.
With graduation, the Class of 2004 is no longer a work in progress. Instead, it’s a finite group, a fleeting sculpture frozen in bright blue caps and gowns, lasting as a complete unit only until the Rev. Paul Christy ended his keynote address.
Looking back I can see that Scott and his classmates are like the rain drops that fall on our mountaintops; they gathered together to form ever-larger groups, just as the water coalesces into larger and larger streams.
With graduation the river they became as they flowed through the halls of SMHS will once again emulate nature, splitting into a myriad of little streams as does the Mississippi when it reaches its delta.
Some class members will stay here, and others will seek their fortune or higher education elsewhere. Some will stay gone, and others will travel far only to find that, for them, all roads lead back to Jackson County.
And some of us, and here I would include other mothers in my situation like Elaine White, Kris Bates, Becci Middleton, Peggy Eidson, Mary Wilson, Pat Ferguson, Kitty Edwards, Ginny Welsh and Wanda Kidd, are left to stare at the empty chairs and wonder how it is that the babies have graduated.
|
