The Beginning and the End

Starting next week, my son will be a senior in high school.  He is registered for college classes (Gannon) on Tues and Thur as part of a federal grant given to the school to facilitate courses for high school AND college credit.  He has his books, his favorite (expensive) pens, he is ready.  I am not.

Starting next week, my best friend, Christine, will be sending her oldest child to kindergarten.  Billy is a very bright little boy, with a vocabulary way beyond his 5 years.  He did pre-school last year, so he knows the ins and outs of classtime.  Billy is ready for Kindergarten.  Christine is not.

It amazes me how our paths can be so similar and yet so very different.

There is so much change going on in my house, I am a little flustered.  Mike’s a senior, counting down the months until he is college bound.  Melanie is in full band competition mode AND she has a new boyfriend.  She went to his house this evening to eat dinner and meet his parents.  She changed her clothes 4 times today in anticipation of the visit.

Joshua is working WAY too many hours, so when he gets home, he is very tired and generally wants a beer a cigarette and the computer.  I am not sleeping again (even with meds), and it’s starting to affect my thinking and coping with all this.

Next week will be difficult for both Christine and I.  I just hope that we can support each other the way we always have, get thru it and laugh about how scared and agitated we were later on.