Last Day of School

Someone gave this to me years ago. I think it is from one of those Chicken Soup books. It says a lot about how I feel today. I am very blessed to be where I am today, doing exactly what I love.

Father,

A quiet tension fills the room

On this last day of school

I expected the exuberance and rowdiness,

But that came yesterday

When there was still one more day to go.

Today the children are disturbingly subdued.

I am embarrassed by my own emotions;

I cannot look at the children directly.

The room is so blank.

The desks are cleaned out.

The last traces of the party have been swept away.

The charts and posters are down for the summer.

So now we sit quietly,

Too wrought even for songs and games,

And we wait for our rides to come.

I expect to see these children again, of course,

But it won’t be the same.

They know it,

And I know it.

They will come around to see me,

Jealous of the new class.

And I will look at a room of little strangers

And miss the familiar faces.

In time

The strangers will become friends.

But every class is different and special;

No new group of children will ever take the place

Of the one leaving me today.