School's Out For Summer...

School's Out Forever.



Boy, this video is disturbing. Who thought Alice Cooper and the Muppets were a good fit?

But today it feels like school is out forever. Josh graduated from sixth grade yesterday, and today was yearbook signing day. So for him, his elementary years are done. Forever. He has been dreading this day for a couple of months. His grade is, frankly, a remarkable group of kids. The teachers all agree that they are unusual. They are kind to each other, they are funny, they are sensitive, they are hard-working. And they don't all go to the same junior high school, which stinks. So yesterday at the promotion ceremony there were a lot of tears. But I'll tell you, the tears yesterday were just a precursor to today's, which were flood level. When I walked to the school right before the bell rang, the kids and teachers were all outside signing yearbooks and saying goodbye. The first thing I saw was the sixth grade boy group. They were bawling. Weeping. Hugging each other. They were a mess. These are the sports boys, the cool boys, and they were more emotional than the girls were yesterday. It was W-I-L-D. (The girls were wrecks, too.)

There's something so sweet and so tender about boys like these feeling free to share their emotions. They haven't been shut down yet. They are comfortable with each other like they would be with family. I'm grateful Josh has had friends like these for seven years. There are few boundaries. Religion doesn't matter, the sports you play don't matter, family circumstances don't matter. I hope he can keep that open heart for the rest of his life. I'm sad, too. I hate to see this time in his life end. The innocence is fading for all of them. Junior high is a new road. I hope he can keep a pure heart, even while so many others of these kids will find themselves walking hard paths. I hope he can always find friends to help him enjoy life, to learn, to care about others, and to stay strong when there are hard choices to make.