In the past week I have said goodbye to: my hairdresser Veronica, my kids' pediatrician, my dentist, and today was the worst one so far: Foothill Elementary School. Both my kids went there, so I have been involved continuously as a parent for 13 years now. It was hard to say goodbye to the office staff, parents that I have been to countless events with and too many field trips to count, and teachers that have made wonderful contributions to my children's education and life in general. But what made this goodbye truly difficult is the fact that this was MY elementary school. When Foothill opened in 1966, ours was the first Kindergarten class, I went there through sixth grade, just like Leo. It hasn't changed all that much, and while I always felt good about my kids going there just like I did, I didn't realize what a huge emotional connection I had to that school until today. Every step through the campus was an emotional replaying of my youth. I passed the library and thought, there is the place where in fifth grade I watched a film with all the other girls about how we were going to get our periods. The nurse's office where I came after Matt Roper pushed me off the monkey bars head first. The playground where we played kickball and foursquare and hopscotch and dodgeball. Even if we weren't moving away, today would have been a sad day for me, knowing that now I am not only a former Foothill student, but a former Foothill parent.
Sigh.
Other painful goodbyes I have to look forward to: My church, my bunco group, my friends and my family. Can't wait! :(
PS I am not the only one who feels this way about Foothill. At my 25th high school reunion in 2004 we had this picture taken:
Who are these people? They were in my kindergarten class! It was funny, we didn't do a lot of reminiscing about high school, but had fun remembering our days at Foothill, somehow everyone had a story about barf.
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