Monday, May 23, 2011

Hello, Goodbye

Max finished preschool last Friday. I admit there were tears in my eyes. I tried to be tough, but what the hell. We have taken our children Raintree Montessori since 2006 when Owen started as a three-year-old. Max ended our tenure there in the same classroom.

Five years. Goodbyes are hard.

Today is the last Monday of school. Seniors are gone already. My juniors will be saying goodbye for the summer (those who don't have to take final exams, at least--we have an exemption policy).

I've gotten used to the hello-goodbye process at school; this is my 12th year.

But when it is my own kids... Sometimes life seems too short.

I find myself thinking of the last story in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, "Lives of the Dead". While I'm not writing about anyone's death, I am reminded of why I like stories. Like any piece of art, they can imbue life into something gone. I can write a story about a preschool boy and paint him with my Max brush. I like that about stories. They can live forever, just as they are, while the real "us" have to move on.

Have a great day.

8 comments:

Anthony Rapino said...

Last week I said my goodbyes to students. It usually doesn't hit me until I'm standing in the empty room and I realize, that's it.

Can't even imagine how many times that is magnified when it's your own children.

Have a great day too! :-)

Daniel Powell said...

Well said, Aaron (and congratulations to Max!). Time rips by, and the sentiment on writing is very true. We write to capture time, to memorialize it, and also to make sense of it. Last night it occurred to me that one ninth of my time with Lyla living beneath my roof has passed me by.

It seems like yesterday she was just coming into the world!

Aaron Polson said...

Tony - It's weird, for sure.

Daniel - Oh man... thinking of it like that, I'm almost 1/2 way done with my time with Owen under our roof. Get's you right in the gut.

Danielle Birch said...

I imagine it would be a very emotional day. Such a jump from preschool to big school.

Aaron Polson said...

Danielle - pretty soon, I'm making him pay rent. ;)

Cate Gardner said...

I find it so hard to let go of places. Mad really. Although I have a solution for your problem--more kiddies. *runs away*

Katey said...

Congratulations to Max!

And I agree about why and how these things are good for preservation purposes. I notice with things I wrote when I was a kid that I could never, ever approximate that time and place--or even that emotion now. It's nice to have them.

Fox Lee said...

"I like that about stories. They can live forever, just as they are..."

Really cool.