All the feels ....

Over the last five days, I have witnessed nearly 2000 young men and women cathartically release the last vestiges of childhood with the flip of a tassel across a mortarboard cap. A flowing gown so proudly worn in their moment of achievement is shed, a cicadian shell reminder of where they had once toiled mostly unseen. Freed from the conventions of mandatory schooling inside brick boxes, these 2000 young men and women crawl inexorably toward adulthood wide-eyed (although thankfully not wide-red-eyed like our friendly brooding cicadas!) with optimism of a story yet unwritten but grand. The world in all its beauty opens before them as they flex their wings in flight to destinations knowingly unknown. Wiser souls, cynically hardened by life, rejoice in this nostalgic flit to a time when they too shared a wide-eye optimism of endless and undiscovered possibilities. Our culture's true celebration of youth is not tied to sinewy muscles and aerobic capacity. Instead we celebrate a youthful return, however briefly, to a time when the optimistic possibilities of life were at their widest and wildest in our future imaginations. Metamorphosis complete, open air ahead!

1,198 of the names I heard called held varying degrees of familiarity to me. Some were students in my class, former teammates in youth sports, kids from the neighborhood, school friends or children of my friends. The overwhelming majority were simply a short swirl of sound waves which would visit my mind briefly before fading into the deafening silence of never again. Two names were especially significant - having known one since she was nine and the other since he was a heartbeat. Like the distinctive sound of the cicada, spotting Nate's optimism took nothing more than a glance which held my eyes captive. Descending from the stage with his diploma in hand, Nate's tilted smile, the sparkle glinting off his eyes as he walked with a rhythmic bounce, betrayed the joyous, optimistic feeling of accomplishment springing from his puffed chest. As I made my way through the sun-dappled crowd outside the Cintas Center toward my son, Nate extended his hand from a distance and, with the same firm handshake I taught him those many years ago, crossed the bridge into adulthood. The only water to be found was welling in my eyes.

Time has a funny way of playing in your mind. Rewind doesn't work as well in real life as it does on your DVR. What feels like only weeks ago turns out to be years, and what you hoped would go on forever ends with pomp and circumstance in a rain of confetti. All you are left with are snapshots and images in your mind which jumble together like last night's dream you can't quite remember. As Tim King - a former teaching colleague of mine at Mason High School - reminded us yesterday, "love is really spelled T I M E." Nate's handshake in the shadow of a Musketeer proved our T I M E together has been lovingly productive. This morning I walked my familiar path to his room but didn't wake him. (I took his brother to school today in the start of a new morning routine???) Instead I peered from the door at him sleeping as I had done many weeks years ago when he was a child, awestruck by the optimistic potential I had helped to create. The story of his life is wide open, unwritten plot twists on every empty leaf, and hopefully the pages turn slowly so I can enjoy it as long as humanly possible.

Okay ... feels over for now.

On to more pressing items.

#1 - thank you to all the people who reached out after the blog's return last week. Closing in on 300 views!!! Wow!!!

#2 - New reader interactive section of the blog. Feel free to email, text or Facebook me suggestions. Today's topic - Life In The Fastlane - Literally! In SW Ohio we are blessed with an abundance of three lane highways. It is my understanding - correct me if I'm wrong - that the right lanes are for slower drivers and the left lane is for faster drivers. My question for you then is what constitutes a 'fast driver'? Is it the speed limit? Is is true speed? What's that ... my question has you slightly confused? OK here is an example: Driver A is in a 55 MPH zone and is driving 75 MPH while traveling in the farthest left lane - AKA the Fast Lane. Driver B is also in the Fast Lane while driving 82 MPH. Should driver A move right so driver B can continue driving at 82 MPH or is driver A entitled to remain in the Fast Lane because he/she no not Caitlyn Jenner is driving well above the speed limit? Please do not share this hypothetical situation with the friendly boys in blue as I prefer to continue my Mario Andretti/Jeff Gordon imitations as long as possible. My answer will be revealed in the next blog ... so join me then!!! End of the School Year Edition!!!