Thursday, December 13, 2012

A Latte of Memories

So here is a latte that I wrote 4 years ago almost to the day.  Mason is now in 5th grade and in the home stretch of his elementary school days.  It was Mary Jane's first grade performance tonight.Tonight was the 8th holiday performance we've watched since I wrote the latte below, and my dad was there with us once again.  So here is my recycled latte for the evening...

27 - I guess it's a number that means different things at different times. It's a number that I thought of last week as I was watching Mason's 1st grade holiday performance. Each of the 6 classes performed a musical number in costume. Mason's class was sheep and shepherds. They've been practicing for weeks, it was very cute and a little crazy. I realize that this is only Mason's second year in elementary school. Charlotte will start next fall, and Mary Jane 2 years after that. We have lots of these to watch and enjoy.

That's where 27 comes in, I was sitting next to a man who, for basically all of the 80's and 90's had 4 children who spent a total of 27 years in elementary school. My dad, who has sat through 27 combined years of his children's performances, now watches his grandson perform at the same school my brother and sisters and I attended. I'm guessing that it all starts to become a blur of costumes, songs, learning lines, and I'm sure a few tears along the way. I don't think I could find a picture of any of my elementary school performances if I tried, and that's ok. I don't need to see them on Facebook now, I have enough memories to keep me going.

So here it is, I've found that if you try to watch a performance, as many do, through the lens of a camera, you might miss out. Take some pictures before, buy the DVD of the show if the school offers that very nice feature, and just sit back and enjoy the moment. That's really what lattes are all about, enjoy. And dad, the next one is on me.