“Don’t trip on your hem,” I told myself as I walked up the choir bleachers, my long black skirt paired with my collared white shirt. I stood proud, excited for the harmonies and melodies I’d soon be belting out alongside my classmates, giggling to relieve my jitters and anticipation. Fast forward thirty two years and those memories come back strong and fresh as I watch Lucas walk up the bleachers for his choir performance then take his seat to perform with the band. 

He teeters between excitement and anxiety when he knows I’m coming into his classroom. If I’m two minutes late the dread sets in as he believes I’ve forgotten him. Fortunately for both he and I, I had the time of the party wrong so instead of being ten minutes late I was twenty minutes early.

The book swap game; you pass a wrapped book to your right, when the music stops whichever book you are holding is yours to keep. Camron thought it was hilarious to pass the books as fast as he could creating a Lucy and Ethel moment.  She’s in 3rd grade but still has a hard time when I come to school and leave without her. So I rarely get to see her in her classroom, with her classmates, being a 3rd grader. Knowing she’d be going home with me at the end of the party she was as cool as a cucumber decorating her house, enjoying her snacks and being a fierce competitor in freeze dance.