One day you wake up and you are … not young.
The month of May and graduation season alwaysbring me a lot of nostalgia. I remember my BHS graduation like it was yesterday: the excitement, the fun, the sadness, the joy, and the anticipation, all in realization that most everything from before would be different after.
I remember my kids’ graduations and feeling the same way. I was not moving on, but they were. Twice. High school and college. Graduation marks change.
This May there is a much different occasion pending in my household.
After 25 years, my husband Pat is retiring from teaching. Retirement. There is no way the person I dated in high school is old enough to retire! Because he is not old – and neither am I! So maybe this transition begs a different word.
I will let you amuse yourself with Google or ChatGPT and see the numerous alternates and synonyms. I think I will simply use transition. The
change is less about being done and more about moving from one condition to another.
Teachers are special. For 8 hours a day and about 36 weeks per year, we turn our children over to these caring adults whose core purpose is helping
raise, shape, and prepare our youth for the world, intellectually, socially, and emotionally. The job is demanding, exhausting, rewarding, and fulfilling at the same time. And it requires immense patience, selflessness, and benevolence. It requires those things and so much more, every single day. I am in awe of teachers! Thank you all – those who are just starting, those who are continuing, and those who are ending the chapter this year.
And to my teacher, I am so proud of you for the many, many children you have impacted over the years! I’m excited to start the transition with you!
Each year in the May issue, I invite local graduates to remark on their high school journey with a reflection. Thank you, Ryn, Will, and Keaton, for
sharing your thoughts.
To all of the students out there who are graduating, and moving to the next condition, be it from 5th, 8th, or 12th grade. Congratulations on reaching this marker and best wishes for the next part of the path.
A final note: I am so honored to help recognize Jack and Penny TerHar in this issue for receiving the Broomfield Community Foundation’s Heart of
Broomfield Enduring Heart Lifetime Achievement Award. The TerHars were friends, neighbors, and employers of mine when I was a teenager, and their example and spirit of community and generosity is part of what shaped my passion for all things Broomfield. Thank you, Jack and Penny, for your lifetime impact on so many!
Thanks for reading,
Tina
