School's . . . out . . . for . . . summer . . .

Last day of school was this week. A few days beforehand, my son remarked sadly, "We only have a few days left of school." A year ago, this would have been said in a much more jovial voice. But this year, we are moving out of town ( out of state, actually) , and our son is well aware of that. The past few months, we have been playing up how great it will be to move closer to grandparents, and to a great town, and to a great school. But reality hit him last week. He realized that he wouldn't be seeing his teacher anymore, and many of his friends. I guess the only world he has ever really known is coming to an abrupt end. And he is sad. And so am I. Seeing the loneliness in his face, and hearing the mopey voice that has replaced his usual upbeat, enthusiastic voice of childhood, makes my heart wrench. I know that he will eventually get through this just fine, and even forget his teachers and classmates, but for now it hurts. My husband and I have been trying to be especially sensitive to what he is feeling. We bought him a disposable camera, and he went around during the last few days of school snapping pictures of his friends and teachers. I told him he could pick out a photo album. As he perused the shelves of albums, one caught his eye. "Memories," it said. "That's a good one. I'll have lots of memories to put in there."