Our Kids and the Class of 2020

It might have been eight or more weeks ago that I started thinking about this piece. It has likely changed its form within my wandering brain several times since then, but finally I arrived at some words to put down. Random thoughts, lyrics, lines of poetry, and words have surfaced during long drives and sleepless hours in the early mornings. Many of those words were probably lost as I didn’t record each of these flashes emanating from the depths of much thought. I don’t know if the content below is worthy of this long train of thought. I am not even sure it is worthy of our children, families, and educators, all of whom play such invaluable roles in our lifetimes.

Please know that all of this comes from a place of love, respect, passion, and hours upon hours of observation and contemplation. A long time ago, I was a high school senior, and finer days may never have existed. Enjoy the snapshots of a community that I love so deeply. A community second to none. Click on the pictures, enlarge them and look them over. I think it’s a pretty cool collection from an early Sunday morning drive around our SAU.

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
Oh, and it’s time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can’t go on
Pretending day-by-day
That someone, somewhere soon make a change
We’re all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need…

~ Michael Jackson / Lionel Richie

In the meantime, the clock kept ticking, there were all of our kids, students, and the winding down of the class of 2020.

Like some cruel version of independent study, the powers that be, said we’ll keep y’all home, and the structures completely empty.

Like a really bad movie that was written just poorly enough that not a single soul could find anything that resembled the end.

The pillars of education were turned on their heads, kicked in the gut for good measure, and the teachers reinvented themselves, I truly commend.

Kids needing space were lumped into a parent’s worst nightmare, staring blankly into a glowing screen, like tempting poltergeist.

Everyone wondered how to get through this disruption, needlessly reversing roles all over the globe, while overlooking the price.

In the beginning, I believed every word that you said,
Now that you’re gone my world is in shreds
Oh, you loved me and left me,
You took all the things that I needed so bad,
I’m standing here wondering where is the love that I had?
Oh, give me silver, blue and gold,
The colour of the sky I’m told,
My rainbow is overdue

In the beginning, yeah,
There was something of love that was mine,
Now that it’s gone, whoa, I’m cryin’…

~ Paul Rodgers

Most everything was cancelled but spring eventually warmed into the season that every school kid daydreams of from the safety of the last row.

But where were the proms, the dances, the parties, the pep rallies, and the gatherings that classmates plan on since they learned 12 years is owed.

Senior student athletes played for their town for the last time whether it was their time or not, the fields and facilities were all quiet.

The after-school rush to get a seat along the first base line or a spot next to friends on an old style bleacher, was only redeemable via riot.

And what about the kids who finally connected with a teacher that helped turned flailing arms into the formation of mighty wings.

Was there any other workaround to overcome such devastation among the living or have we learned to sheepishly conform to such things.

…Standing by the trapdoor aware of me and you
The actor and the clown, they’re waiting for their cue
And there’s a lady over there, she’s acting pretty cool
But when it comes to playing life
She always plays the fool…

~Peter Andrew Willis / Robert John Lange / Joseph Thomas Elliott / Richard Savage / Stephen Maynard Clark / Richard John Cyril Allen

And in the end, the homeroom teacher was left at a desk before an empty room, where the kids would’ve gathered to start each school day.

Normally a place where the comfort found in structured days give a sense of security and the friendly smiles greet without a word to say.

Across town, kids longed to interact with their teachers, friends, and classmates, in a safe place to be themselves in the comfort of their own skin.

Instead this new reality had the kids all inside with the rest of us like some sort of demented recurring Groundhog Day we found ourselves in.

High school sweethearts couldn’t be found in the halls, and the lockers stood in rows like soldiers guarding empty streets of a former town.

The parking lots invited weeds and days on end came and went without the echo of laughter and sighs of relief noting another school day down.

On the day the wall came down
They threw the locks onto the ground
And with glasses high we raised a cry
For freedom had arrived

On the day the wall came down
The Ship of Fools had finally run aground
Promises lit up the night like paper doves in flight

I dreamed you had left my side
No warmth not even pride remained
And even though you needed me
It was clear that I could not do a thing for you…

…I woke to the sound of drums
The music played, the morning sun streamed in
I turned and I looked at you
And all but the bitter residue slipped away
Slipped away

~ David Gilmour / Polly Samson

Despite the end, there were some very cool adjustments made on the fly, drive-by birthdays, celebration parades, and emotional goodbyes from cars in a line.

Twelve years together, growing in a group, class after class, each obstacle overcome, ended for the 2020’s, and I implore that the end is not how you are defined.

Students wanted closure, the spring flings, senior trips, educational forays across the state, class celebrations, and teacher led dance parties in a safe place.

Perhaps the window has closed, but I am calling for a day later this summer to open the doors and let students and educators close the loop face to face.

Times were tough on the these groups for the last several months but forward we all trudged because that is simply what we do.

And students please don’t let the spring of 2020 be the apex you sought for so long be the best of your days, better days are coming and we all believe in you.

Oh yeah, all right
Are you going to be in my dreams
Tonight?

And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make

~ John Lennon / Paul McCartney

Oh, and just in case it needs to be said, and I don’t know how this could ever have been questioned. Our educators, teachers, aides, administrators, nurses, volunteers and all others who live a large portion of their lives just to give kids across our country a better chance are of the utmost importance. They are invaluable and should be held in the highest regard. I can’t thank you all enough for changing direction on a dime this spring and trying to lift our kids so they can fly, all with one hand tied behind your backs, and the daily equivalent of a TV commercial to make that vital connection. Truly, amazing! I really do hope that we can have a “Step Back Day” so students and teachers can say good-bye and close the loop, all so everyone can move forward. Everyone deserves it.

On a similar note, I don’t know why we parents have tried to take on so many roles impacting our kids when there are so many people in places to help with that journey through childhood. Our parents, teachers, and coaches didn’t help us learn to fly so we could be a bunch of annoying helicopters filling the air where blue skies, puffy white clouds, self-soothing and daydreams should fittingly reside. If you think you are not in this mold, fantastic. Even so, you still might want to go outside and lie on the grass for awhile. Stare at the clouds passing through the sky and think back to the days of your unencumbered youth and thank the good Lord you were granted the freedoms you were. And just maybe one of your kids will come join you and rescue you from yourself.