To the reader: This is the last in a series of postings chronicling my son Greg's senior year in high school. Previous postings can be found under the heading "Senior Moments."
It's hard to believe that nearly a month has passed since graduation. Four weeks ago tonight Greg received his high school diploma. The traditional march to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance (although the tempo that night was closer to a sprint than a march); a couple of speeches; a few well-chosen words of advice; the handshake from the principal; a shower of silly string . . . and in 90 minutes it was over! I meant to post this last installment of "Senior Moments" on graduation night, but it was late when we got home; I was too tired. The next day was "Recovery Day" after the whirlwind of activity that marked Graduation Weekend. The following weekend was my studio recital; the weekend after that Memorial Day weekend. Then came June and starting my summer lesson schedule. In short, we've moved on. Time didn't stop with Greg's graduation. So now I've had nearly a month to let it sink in and reflect on this momentous rite of passage. And you know what? A month later, it doesn't seem quite as life-altering as I expected.
For one thing, Greg is still living at home and will be for the next couple of years while he attends Johnson County Community College. Empty-nesters? Not yet. Other than sleeping in later -- it is summer, after all -- our routines aren't all that different. Greg is still working part time at Pizza Hut; I'm still teaching private lessons; Steve is still playing weekend gigs and conducting his usual summer show at The Theatre in the Park ("Annie," if you must know).
But, little by little, things are changing. The week after graduation Greg cleaned out his room. He cleared out his closet, dresser drawers, shelves -- even under his bed (!) -- and removed no fewer than four large trash bags of stuff. Two bags went to Goodwill, another to a garage sale, and the fourth one into the trash. It's amazing -- for years I nagged Greg to clean out his closet. If I'd only known, I would have encouraged him to graduate earlier! (Just kidding.) He moved the large dresser out of his room and added more shelves to his closet; he also replaced the old particle board student desk with a snazzy new one made of glass and metal. I gave him my plush Crate & Barrel chair. I bought it through Craig's List last year, thinking it would be a nice addition to my bedroom, but it took up too much space. Steve was constantly running into it and complaining about it -- I knew he wouldn't miss it! All that's left to do is paint, and Greg's room will look more like a college dorm room . . . only slightly larger and much less expensive. In the meantime, we've been collecting several pieces of furniture in the basement: the old dresser, our old kitchen table and chairs -- all in storage until the day that Greg moves out.
When I began my blog last summer, it was with the idea to chronicle my son's last year of high school. In my first "Senior Moments" posting, I listed all the things I wished we had done before Greg's senior year. Among them was "We should have bought a camcorder." Well, guess what? The week before graduation, I bought one! We took it to the graduation ceremony, and shot a few minutes of the program. Unfortunately, we were too far away to get a viewable film. But that's okay. I figure it's a justifiable expense, since we can use it to take videos of some of our musical performances (hey, it's tax-deductible!). We did get some nice still photos (posted at the beginning and end of this blog).
The end of Greg's senior year doesn't mean the end of my blog. Far from it. Maybe this fall I'll start a blog chronicling Greg's college experience. Maybe I'll write more about music and even post some homemade videos (once I learn how). In any case, I'm open to suggestions. I've got all the time in the world now -- after all, I'm the parent of a high school graduate.
