On her son’s first day of middle school, Sandhya Acharya finds that it is a first day of school for her as well.
Every year, on the first day of school, we follow a tradition. At the entrance to my son’s school, by the tables past the ginkgo trees, we join a group of kids lined up patiently. One by one, they come up, pose into a frame announcing their grade, and smile for their first-day picture.
Not this year.
Because six years since that first day of elementary school, it’s time for my son to step through another set of doors. This time to middle school.
My son is a few feet taller, a few books wiser, and can speak more than a few sentences. I am no longer concerned if he will understand his phonics lesson for the day, eat his fruit, or have someone to go down the slide with.