Senior Sunrise

Yesterday was graduation at the high school. That meant this morning was Senior Sunrise. Yeah, it's just what it sounds like, all the kids who are now seniors, including Princess, had to be at the park at 5:45 this morning to eat Eggo waffles and celebrate the fact that they could now "rule the school!" And just to make sure the kids all dragged themselves out of bed, they gave away a free used car.

Princess didn't win.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. She had to take a test last night. She and Prima Donna, and the Dog Walker are all taking summer classes. I'm sure I've told you before that she wants to graduate from high school with her associates degree. Anyway, it was about 1:00 am when she finally finished her test. I stayed up to support her efforts. By the time she headed downstairs, I knew she would have a hard time convincing herself it was worth it to show up at the breakfast.

I told her I would wake her about 5:20. Then the Dog Walker and I played Just Dance and I did a little paperwork while he wrote my post and soon it was approaching 3:00 am. I had already decided it would be easier to stay up than to sleep for a couple of hours and then try to rouse myself enough to drive her over to the park.

It actually worked out pretty good. I've been so busy lately I had a stack of things that needed to be done on my desk and I got through most of them. Of course I have a new stack today...

The sky was turning pink as we drove the short distance to the park. There were kids everywhere! As I maneuvered the van between the rows of vehicles parked haphazardly along the street, I glanced over at Princess. I can't believe she is really this grown up! For about half a second I was reminded of the drop-off lanes for kindergarten and I wondered what happened to all those years.

We have both changed in so many ways, but one thing remains the same, as she pulled open the door, she flashed me a smile and called, "Bye, Mom, I love you."

I blinked back the tears.
I love you too, my precious girl.