Am I the Last One in School?

My son, Mark, is still in school. He informs me of this every day as cousin after cousin and friend after friend finishes up their last days of school, Mark wails: 'I am still in school.' He slept over with his cousin Jacob and a few other cousins Saturday night. I use the word "slept" very loosely because when Mark arrived home Sunday afternoon, he mentioned that he and his cousins stayed up all night searching for bullfrogs in Jacob's pond. He gloomily announced that all the cousins were heading off to spend a second night together but he couldn't participate because he was "still in school". I try to tell him to enjoy his very last two days in eighth grade because he will be moving on to the more rigorous curriculum of high school. Coincidently, as I type this, my daughter Dianne's boyfriend, Dan, asked Mark if he was done with school yet. Mark responded with a litany of how he had nothing to do in each of his seven classes, insisting he is rotating sleeping with watching movies throughout his final school days. I doubt that will be the extent of his learning over these last two days, but I do think the teachers are lightening the load as the kids prepare to enter a brand new chapter in their young lives. His commencement is Wednesday night and we are blessed that his "sending forth" begins with Mass. This is such a very perfect way to begin his summer, with the perfect prayer to God. But before he "commences forth" he needs to scrub a few desk tops, erase pencil marks in books, clean out his locker, say good-bye to his classmates, then Mark can finally have his "last day of school." P.S. I had to include these precious photos of Mark (age: seven) with Jacob and Jake's sister, Grace and their fresh catches. The pictures are so cute and it reminds how kids do grow up way too fast!

God's peace be with you,

Laurie