ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

Ode to the Graduating Class of 2023

Lisa Duffy-Korpics
Curated Newsletters

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Today is their last day of school, and so is mine.

Classroom door in hallway showing empty room. Photo from author.

Today is their last day of school.

So they will dress up in costumes, spray each other with water pistols, and do TikTok dances in the hallways.

They’ll fight authority with colorful streamers and face paint.

They’ll chase each other, dive onto the slip-and-slide on the front lawn, and even start a spontaneous parade. It will be loud.

They’ll cheer and chant and tell everyone that they can’t wait to get out of here. All at the same time wondering what happens next.

And then it will be quiet.

They’ll pour over their yearbooks and remember when. They’ll give me hugs and ask me never to forget them. I’ll tell them I never will.

And I won’t.

They’ll reminisce with their friends about those times in 3rd grade when they played kickball at recess, the crazy sleepovers where nobody ever slept, and they’ll remember the first time they stepped into the high school.

How it seemed so big to them then.

They’ll realize — some for the very first time — that you can want something and fear it at the same time. I’ll tell them that so…

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