My grandson showed us his graduation pictures. That has sure come a long ways from when I had mine taken. It was a series of thirty five shots and they were excellent. As I admired them I couldn't help but think, these are going to be some of the last. Yes, there will be ones on the actual day, taken my mom and dad, taken by grandpa, but these are probably the last professional school photos. It's another marker of time. It is a bit sad in a way. No more school pictures.
You know I was there when he had his first school pictures taken. Grandma and I would go to the elementary school on those days to watch and place our order. We saw him when he was excited to get his picture taken, we saw him when he could have cared less.Then came middle school and high school. You got yearbook pictures. All of that was low key, no big deal. Ah, but those senior pictures, they are a big deal. It's their first chance to wear a cap and gown. Mark belongs to the National Honor Society and so wears that extra collar, or whatever they call, it that signifies that honor. These pictures are special, these pictures mark a milestone in life. They also mark an ending. An ending to a childhood, I can see it no other way. Mark has graduated! Bittersweet is the word that fits this moment.
Mark will be going to college in the fall and I'm certain lots of pictures will accompany that. Those pictures will be taken by proud parents and grandparents. I expect there will be some opportunity for professional photos, after all there is money to be made , but these aren't kids anymore. Having never attended a college or university myself I'm not sure of the protocol in that regard. But, what I was thinking about are the formal pictures that accompanied our grade and high school years. It's true that many pictures will be taken, probably more so today than at any time in the past. Almost everyone carries a camera with them, everywhere these days. I saw an advertisement on television for the new I-phone. The selling point was the camera! It struck me at that moment how things have changed. Are you selling me a phone or a camera? So, yes there will be plenty of photos but it's not the same thing. Perhaps it's only a feeling, perhaps it's just nostalgia on my part, but it's what I perceive. I looked at those graduation photos and saw a young man, not a child. It's the first time I have seen Mark in that fashion. I've been seeing glimpses for some time, but now, there he is!
This morning I as sit here writing these thoughts a particular verse comes to mind, " when I was a child I spoke as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish thing " The time has come for Mark to put away childish things and he is well on his way. That time is different for all of us. For some coming sooner and others later, much later. Mark has always had an " old soul " and for that reason set aside childish things rather quickly. I don't know, seeing those pictures, cap and gown, did stir something inside me, a feeling of loss. But then I see the young man he has become and I had a part in that, we all did! You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Where I to attempt to write the words to accompany those pictures it would take volumes! I look at those pictures and hear the voice of a child but the picture is of a man.
Strange how that works. When you are young you are always looking forward.But when you become a grandparent you spend more time looking back. At first at the life of your grandparents and parents. Then your children and grandchildren. You begin to see the world in reflection. You discover that the reflection isn't always the same as what you saw! Strange indeed. It's an emotional time for many. Mark graduates in 14 days! Two weeks and childhood ends. There is no looking back, not yet anyway. That'll come for Mark later on and the cycle continues.
You know I was there when he had his first school pictures taken. Grandma and I would go to the elementary school on those days to watch and place our order. We saw him when he was excited to get his picture taken, we saw him when he could have cared less.Then came middle school and high school. You got yearbook pictures. All of that was low key, no big deal. Ah, but those senior pictures, they are a big deal. It's their first chance to wear a cap and gown. Mark belongs to the National Honor Society and so wears that extra collar, or whatever they call, it that signifies that honor. These pictures are special, these pictures mark a milestone in life. They also mark an ending. An ending to a childhood, I can see it no other way. Mark has graduated! Bittersweet is the word that fits this moment.
Mark will be going to college in the fall and I'm certain lots of pictures will accompany that. Those pictures will be taken by proud parents and grandparents. I expect there will be some opportunity for professional photos, after all there is money to be made , but these aren't kids anymore. Having never attended a college or university myself I'm not sure of the protocol in that regard. But, what I was thinking about are the formal pictures that accompanied our grade and high school years. It's true that many pictures will be taken, probably more so today than at any time in the past. Almost everyone carries a camera with them, everywhere these days. I saw an advertisement on television for the new I-phone. The selling point was the camera! It struck me at that moment how things have changed. Are you selling me a phone or a camera? So, yes there will be plenty of photos but it's not the same thing. Perhaps it's only a feeling, perhaps it's just nostalgia on my part, but it's what I perceive. I looked at those graduation photos and saw a young man, not a child. It's the first time I have seen Mark in that fashion. I've been seeing glimpses for some time, but now, there he is!
This morning I as sit here writing these thoughts a particular verse comes to mind, " when I was a child I spoke as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish thing " The time has come for Mark to put away childish things and he is well on his way. That time is different for all of us. For some coming sooner and others later, much later. Mark has always had an " old soul " and for that reason set aside childish things rather quickly. I don't know, seeing those pictures, cap and gown, did stir something inside me, a feeling of loss. But then I see the young man he has become and I had a part in that, we all did! You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Where I to attempt to write the words to accompany those pictures it would take volumes! I look at those pictures and hear the voice of a child but the picture is of a man.
Strange how that works. When you are young you are always looking forward.But when you become a grandparent you spend more time looking back. At first at the life of your grandparents and parents. Then your children and grandchildren. You begin to see the world in reflection. You discover that the reflection isn't always the same as what you saw! Strange indeed. It's an emotional time for many. Mark graduates in 14 days! Two weeks and childhood ends. There is no looking back, not yet anyway. That'll come for Mark later on and the cycle continues.
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