What do you get when you put a nun, the town policeman, a few sleeping politicians, a woman in a kimono and 60 weeping children in uniform into a gym and set it at 40ºF for exactly 2 hours? You got that right, Junior High School Graduation.
We rehearsed graduation a ridiculous amount of times. Everything was perfected: bowing, standing, sitting, singing, handing off of certificates and gifts, reading of letters, the procession, the flower arrangements, the uniforms. I’ve never seen humans so precise. I've spent the last two days measuring chairs in the audience to the centimeter.
And as I sat there watching the 3rd years proceed in, not a smile to be found, and then turn and face the 1st and 2nd years, everyone crying as they sang solemnly to each other, I couldn’t help but feel death was coming. I was curious to see if the boys were crying too. They were, and so were the male teachers and dads. Not that there is anything wrong with that (Fascinating article about crying here) Anyway, everyone was crying!
When the ceremony was over we sent the 3rd years off through a tunnel of paper flowers with happy congratulations, laughing and joking. This felt completely opposite to me, as I wanted to celebrate, smile, and cheer during the ceremony, but cry and feel sad during the goodbyes. I am all messed up.
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