Class of Covid-19

Early summer 2020, the actual date unknown.

The idea, flashing neon lights in the back of my mind, growing larger & brighter every single year.

The first few days of Kindergarten in the fall of 2007, you stood beside a sign that read Class of 2020 & it seemed as though we had a lifetime to go.

Hours of struggling over homework, days spent on a field or in a gym, tears shed over a girl or an argument with a friend, voices raised in disagreements, rules broken, nights spent worrying, dollar after dollar after dollar spent on needs and wants, memories made, traditions passed on, clothes outgrown, toys forgotten, hearts broken, mistakes made, medals earned, patches collected, friends made, friends lost, trucks driven and wrecked, futures decided, futures changed, lessons learned.

I blinked.

The closer we got to that finish line, the realer it got.

I blinked.

How did we get here so fast?

I blinked.

I had it all pictured in my mind. Your senior year. Celebrating wins and learning from losses. Smiling through the tears on senior night. Taking pictures on prom. Crying my eyes out as you walk across the stage. One last vacation before the reality of life makes you grow up.

Sometimes things don't happen the way we think they should.

I'm thankful for your school years. I'm thankful for the happy moments, the moments we thought couldn't possibly get worse, the moments that were captured on film, the moments that will be forever etched in our minds, the smiles, the tears, the joy, the pain, & everything in between.

I'm thankful for almost 7 months of a semi normal senior year.

Now, today, July 23, 2020, 4 months after life as we knew it changed, and 2 months after your original graduation date, I'm thankful for an ending for this journey we started 13 years ago.

I'm thankful that even though this is NOTHING like what I pictured or what anyone wanted, we have tried to make the best of it.

Class of 2020, you are destined to be world changers. You go down in history as the Covid-19 class. And while, yes, it sucks on so many levels, keep your heads up & know that every experience you go through makes you who are will become in the future.

Don't blink, your future is waiting!


I blinked. Through the tears, I blinked.

 

Red Brown Yellow Black and White

Unless you have been living under a rock or a deserted island, you know all about how unstable our world is. It's heartbreaking, infuriating, & terrifying. 

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red, brown, yellow

Black and white

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the little children

Of the world.

Anybody else grow up singing that song?

I think it's true what they say, what we decided our Senior year in high school, when we went in through the out door. Almost everything we needed to know in life, to really help us get along with others, we learned in Kindergarten.

Anyway...that's a thought for another day! 

My 18 year old son got pulled over the other night. It was after 11pm, he wasn't speeding, or honestly "doing" anything wrong. The police officer pulled him over because he has wild lights on his Jeep. They sometimes have an orange glow, making them look red.

Upon stopping, my son immediately threw both of his hands out the window in full view of the officer because he did have a handgun with him. Thankfully, it was locked & the clip was in a separate location. He told the officer as soon as he approached his car & they discussed it. Thankfully, he was let off with a warning for his lights, was educated about the proper way to carry a gun in a vehicle since he didn't have his concealed carry permit, and was allowed to come home just shortly before midnight.

My son is white.

The officer was white.

We live in a small community in the south, in the Bible belt.

We have good relationships with many emergency personnel.

Happy ending to a possibly scary story that is on repeat in our nation.

After my son told me about it, he also told me about a friend of his that recently had the same thing happen to him.

He went to jail.

He is black.

NOW BEFORE YOU GO JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS...

We only know part of the story. We don't know why this young man was pulled over. We don't know what he said to the officer or what the officer said to him. We don't know ANYTHING about the situation, where the gun was, or if there were any other laws in question.

I'm NOT (can I emphasize that anymore) racist!!! I don't buy into the BLM movement because I fully believe they are an organization that is only concerned with drama, hate, & their personal agenda. No where in that did I say that black lives don't matter! I have black friends, Hispanic friends, mixed friends, white friends, etc that I adore! I have children of all ethnicities at school that I love with everything that I am & will do anything that I possibly can to help them.

But honestly, that's the first place my mind took me. He's black.

That's very uncharacteristic of me. That just proves how much sway the media has over our lives & our minds.

Please STOP giving the media that much power over you!

In the meantime people, keep your hearts open to everyone & keep singing!