old country house blog

GRADUATION DAY

I was so naive. I thought that by the time my firstborn graduated High School I would have WAY more figured out, when in fact, life baffles me more than ever. Most of my life is as clear as the images seen from a moving train…they fly past me and I am hard pressed to grab one much less make sense of it ANY OF IT.

tatetshirt

What I do know is that life keeps going…like the moving train…and whether or not you choose consciously or by circumstance to hop off and PROCESS a bit of it…is all up to you. Right now..I am in the LIVING car…moving, doing, feeling and creating. Thank goodness for photos that freeze moments in time, making them seem slower and more articulate than they do in person.

I plan to take a lot of photos tomorrow, as I watch my boy in his wrinkled blue gown and awkward cap…I plan to shoot away while the moments…surreal as they may be…fly past me…I am certain I will be flooded…with memories…..

his first day of Pre K with Cooper watching forlorn from the window….

THE "FIRST" FIRST DAY - TATE STARTS PRE K, PHOEBE STARTS NURSERY AND COOPER...WELL COOPERS GETS LEFT BEHIND...BUT NOT FOR LONG!
THE “FIRST” FIRST DAY – TATE STARTS PRE K, PHOEBE STARTS NURSERY AND COOPER…WELL COOPERS GETS LEFT BEHIND…BUT NOT FOR LONG!

THE WALDORF FIRST GRADE ROSE CEREMONY…SO BEAUTIFUL AND SYMBOLIC…

TATE ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE - THE ROSE CEREMONY
TATE ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE – THE ROSE CEREMONY
2004 - PHOEBE'S FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
SECOND GRADE….

ALL THE WAY THROUGH….SO MANY FIRST DAYS…HE DID EVERYTHING “FIRST”

THE FIST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR!
THE FIRST DAY OF SENIOR YEAR!

MY DAD GAVE TATE A DOGWOOD TREE SAPLING FOR HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY AND WE PLANTED IT IN THE FRONT YARD OF OUR OLD HOUSE….

My Dad bought a tree for Tate the year he turned one...we planted in in our old front yard...It now casts a giant shadow across the sidewalk and is over 10 feet tall....
My Dad bought a JAPANESE DOGWOOD Tree for Tate the year he turned one…we planted in in the front yard…of our old house…

LIFE KEEPS GOING AND GROWING AND CHANGE HAPPENS AND PEOPLE COME AND GO AND YOU ARE EITHER “IN IT” OR WATCHING IT ….

TATE AND THE TREE...THEY BOTH HAVE GROWN ...ALOT!
TATE AND THE TREE…THEY BOTH HAVE GROWN …!

Way back when..once upon a time….I had BIG plans…”I will make him a book, collect all of his “FIRST DAY’S” compile them in a neat little package!!!”…but alas…those sentimental projects are lost in the living. Maybe one day, maybe when he has a child go to kindergarten ..when he and I share the moment…BUT …not today….now now….

The hardest lesson I have learned as a parent is that despite the fact that we are both looking at LIFE square in the face from the same sofa….the view from where HE sits and where I sit are vastly different…and aways will be.

TATE
TATE

I love my son so much and I am so very proud of who he has grown up to be. I could ask for no more than the joy of being his Mom…

TATE COLTRANE DEVITO - CLASS OF 2015
TATE COLTRANE DEVITO – CLASS OF 2015

TATE IS ON HIS WAY…

tate leaves

I DONE GOOD AND HE IS READY TO FLY!!!

THE FIRST TIME TATE DROVE TO SCHOOL...CHARLIE CHASING HIM OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY
THE FIRST TIME TATE DROVE TO SCHOOL…CHARLIE CHASING HIM OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY

WE WILL REFLECT ON THIS…

LATER….

FOR NOW

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

WE CELEBRATE!!! AND TAKE LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURES!!!

4 thoughts on “GRADUATION DAY

  1. It’s such a sweet time and you sound like you’re prepared. You have a beautiful family and you’re lucky to be able to enjoy this big moment, again, with Phoebe and Cooper (and they’ll ALL be different!). Congratulations to Tate!

  2. I was going to dismiss the fact that I have tears in my eyes but guess what……I can’t! You are such a good writer. As I read your post I thought back over 5 children and the steps in their (and my) life. Each prom, each graduation, it goes so fast. I just tell my children that when they have families of their own to be sure and hold onto every minute, to log it in their brain and keep it in their heart. Best wishes Tate!

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