Beginning of the End–Again

The post below is a reblog from August 27, 2012. I am re-posting it today because I recently presented this story as a reflection for webcasting on the website of mmLearn.org which is a service of Morningside Ministries. mmLearn was created and designed for caregivers, both those who work in care facilities and those who care for loved ones at home. In the webcast, which is part of mmLearn’s Prayers for a Caregiver series, the lesson of the Beginning of the End is applied to the dear caregivers serving their loved ones in the trek up and down the mountain. You can view the reflection by clicking here. For the orginal story just keep reading.

 Trey, thanks for this story. Little did we know that night that it would be repeated in so many different venues.

Today is the first day of school. Even though I don’t have kids at home, the school year dictates my calendar. Until next June, I will allow extra time to drive through school zones or, better yet, avoid them if possible. I will stay away from the grocery store after 3:00 in the afternoon, too many moms with tired students in tow grabbing just one more ingredient for dinner. And the lack of traffic on the road at odd hours will remind me of holidays of which I was not aware.

Nevertheless, the first day of school is a nostalgic day for me. Because I was fortunate enough to have been a stay-at-home mom, my whole life revolved around the school calendar. Let’s see, 3 boys times 12 years of school, that’s 36 individual first days of school! However, one year stands out in my memory, because, for that son, it set the tone for all the days to follow.

A  week or so before the start of our oldest son’s freshman year at Churchill High School, we attended orientation night. At the end of the program a slide show took parents and students on a virtual tour of the next four years by showing all the activities that go on at Churchill ending with pictures of graduation. That’s when it hit me. This was it. Trey would be home for four more years. Then he would go off to college and there would be no more first days of school for him.

As we walked to the car, I put my arm around his shoulder and, with tears in my eyes, said, “Well, Trey, this is it, the beginning of the end.”

He looked at me with his biggest smile and earnestly responded, “Isn’t it great!”

Our viewpoints could not have been more different. I was looking down the mountain toward the end of the trek. He was looking up the mountain at the beginning of the trek. Little did I know that he would be gone much sooner than I expected.

It happened in his junior year. For one semester he was an exchange student to Germany and lived in West Berlin at the time the wall was still standing. The sadness and uncertainty of allowing him to go into the unknown was overwhelming. This was in the old-timey days when anyone could go to the gate at the airport; Butch and I, his brothers, Andy and Joe, stayed glued to the window until we saw his plane soar into the air. Six months later I felt like I was flying I was so happy and relieved when we met him at the airport to welcome him home. But this was his beginning. Years later when the wall fell, he called his German host parents from Chile where he was doing a college semester abroad.

He’s an adult now and we are still experiencing beginnings. This Sunday he arrives from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he now lives, for a thirty-day visit to the states. We will experience another ending when he leaves to go back home.

Yes, for he and I both that night was the beginning of the end. And today for the students in my city it is a beginning of the end with all the anticipation and trepidation that goes with beginnings and endings.  Parents and students, my advice: whether your view is up or down the mountain take it one beginning at a time. The ending will be here before you know it. Relish the beginning and the ending will be that much sweeter.

From the Woodpile Kitty to parents and students everywhere,

Have a happy and safe back-to-school!