* Where I live. today is the first day of school for many kids. Summer sure went fast, as it always does. I didn't mind going back so much. I would miss sleeping in late, but by the end of summer that got old. I would miss doing whatever I wanted to do every day. I would miss the warm weather and all that comes with summertime.
But usually I was ready...ready to see old friends and make new ones. Ready to use my brand new school supplies . Back when I was a kid we had metal lunch-boxes and thermal mugs; brown paper bags and wax paper for the food. That's if I was packing my lunch, which was often the case.
The first day was always hectic. meeting new teachers and getting used to the class schedule. And there was usually homework to be done, even on the first day.
In high school, especially as a senior, the first day back was more than welcomed as it meant getting closer to graduation. The fall semester of the senior year seems the longest, as in the spring you're planning on graduation and life beyond.
The worst part of the first day was knowing that you wouldn't be off again until Thanksgiving. It seemed so long. Then the Christmas holidays. Spring break wasn't too much longer after that. But from September until next June, it seemed like eternity.
Notice I wrote September. Back in the day we didn't start the next year of school until the day after Labor Day. Now, it generally begins for almost everyone in August. I guess they want to get in as much nice weather in case there are too many snow days in the winter.
Labor Day weekend was like walking the Green Mile. The first part was all-out fun, be it cook-outs, at the beach or just hanging, watching the Phillies, the Jerry Lewis telethon on TV, partying like it was 1999.
Labor Day itself was sort of anti-clamatic, and Labor Day night was awful, getting out your school clothes for the next day, making sure your supplies were ready, going to bed way too early ( we never went ot bed early a few weeks before Labor day to get used to the new routine- we went cold turkey).
It really didn't hit me about school starting again and the summer ending until the next morning when reality set in.
When I started college, my first day was different. It was the first time I had actually attended a so-called "regular" school for able-bodied students. In the past, it was either attending an accessible school for kids with disabilities; having teachers come to my house after school-hours; or using the intercom system hooked up from my bedroom to Phoenixville High's classes.
So, there I was, in my late 20's the first day of college, and also having to deal with new stuff like lockers, cafeterias , desks and racing form class to class.
Once I got back into a routine of studying, the rest of the back to school experience pretty much fell into place for me. It made me look forward to the holidays and breaks even more, and you always have to have goals and things to look forward to in life. You just keep going, keep grinding it out, day after day.
So, when I saw the yellow school buses go up my street early this morning, I smiled. Later this afternoon, I'll see the neighborhood kids returning home, back-packs on, the warm days still hanging around for another month or so, but the twilight falling earlier each afternoon, the small of Autumn in the air, the leaves changing colors and Halloween decorations up everywhere.
I'll smile because I know where it all leads, down the road of life.
And I'll remember mostly good times on this, the first day of school.
k
No comments:
Post a Comment