It Was the Best of Days...

I know it's been awhile since I've posted.  Sorry about that.  I haven't felt much like writing about school.  It's been a stressor in my life for awhile.  But, to be honest, today is a day worthy of writing.  Graduation Day 2011!
I've been thinking a lot about this poem by Jim Carroll:


You're growing up. And rain sort of remains on the branches of a tree that will someday rule the Earth. And it's good that there is rain. It clears the month of your sorry rainbow expressions, and it clears the streets of the silent armies... so we can dance.


I think about my kids... and a rainy graduation day, like today.  Throughout the years, I have watched this kids grow.  They've worked towards becoming the adults I knew they could be.  And they now KNOW that they can achieve their dreams... they will become forces to be reckoned with.  Of all my graduations to this point, this one has been the most emotional.  These kids have struggled through addictions, family problems, homelessness, being single parents, etc.  Many were the first in their family to graduate.  Many worked extra hours to walk across that stage today.  Some of my first students at my school graduated today.  I don't have children, but I feel the swelling pride that parents must feel when they watch their children do something successful.  There were multiple times my eyes welled up with tears, and I wanted to hug those kids and smile.
It's a turning point in my life and theirs.  They will go on and live their lives as they've dreamed.  I have to walk away and let them go, with only hopes to see them again.  And yet I let them go with a smile in my heart.