Tis' the season to recognize the mark of achievements in those completing major milestones in their lives. It is a season for some of great sadness and loss. The loss of the elementary, middle, and high school experiences that will be no more. The loss of best friends, locker combinations, cheerleading squads, and spontaneous midnight sleepovers. For some it will be a matter of entering into the next phase of school with a gain of new best friends, new locker combinations, and new people to get to know on your new team. Entering into these new tiers and chapters of school lie just around the corner for some. For others, the end to graduating will lead to new jobs (a completely different arena of life) with a loss of leaning on mom and dad for financial support or a roof over the head. And then there are others like Nursing Programs, Law School, and even Police Academy graduations like my husband will be a part of where the reward brings further definition. They all signify closure of books in history with new volumes to come.
Tonight, at 7pm, my little niece Mariah is graduating from 5th grade at Montclair Elementary school. Actually, she's not little anymore. She will be 11 this fall. 11! I remember the very first time I saw her in the hospital room. My sister had just finished screaming her lungs out and the little munchkin was presented to us at 21" long, looking just like a Chinese cricket (if I ever saw one!).
I was so proud to be an aunt that day, and I still am.
The years that followed would be full of memory-making. From watching her trapse around the house in on our high heeled shoes to Kindergarten graduation she has been a life that has touched all of us. I remember babysitting her one night in her first home, the townhouse, where Anna lived with Liz. Isaac and I felt like parents living in a "real" house. We made dinner, watched some tube, and I'm sure spent a majority of the night trying to get her to stop crying. She was little enough to fit in a wind-up swing. And some of the fondest memories I'll ever know were spending nearly every night of summer before leaving for college over at my Anna's house in Summerland Heights apartments. Carrie worked at Olive Garden, I worked at Uno's, and Anna still worked at one of her (million) theatres. Our lives collided in such a way that summer that we were together almost every night. Carrie and I traditionally worked the night shifts and we would mosey our way on up to "The Bridge" (Woodbridge) for one evening after the other of fun. A quick trip to Shoppers to pick up Toquitos would always be in store followed by a night of cozied-in sitcom watching. We'd repeat the cycle as often as possible. Anna would make her and Mariah dinner while Carrie and I smushed her and cuddled her til' she was blue in the face.
But then those moments ended and I went off to college. Carrie had much more time over the next years to spend with Mariah than I because I was gone. I have always been a bit jealous of that and longed to be a part of the memory making of those years. I know they are fond of them. My memories are fewer, but still fond.
But today, as we have all seen her grow over the years, she will be walking the plank (hahaha) to graduate from her little elementary school nestled in a forest of "The Bridge" on a dead end road that she was driven down passed quaint houses on many a morning and afternoon. From booties to Chuck Taylors she has grown into quite a unique little girl. Her chipped nail polish, plastic bracelets, and continuous runny nose remind me of how innocent childhood is and how easily we take it for granted. Once a sticky-faced toddler running up and down the plastic playground in grandma's field across the street she is now a beautiful young lady with the world at her feet.
Hats off to Mariah, my niece, my love.
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