New Beginnings

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."

Those song lyrics are swirling around my head as I drive my (now) eight-year-old boy to his first day at his new school - Pathfinder. It's a gorgeous, sunny, brisk morning and the light and shadows are playing a game of cat-and-mouse.

Rowan's excitement is palpable - as he tells me how he's going to write a letter "to those people who write the animal dictionaries and ask them why they left out coelacanth's - the oldest living fish?"

We park, tumble out of the car, and begin the long walk (58 stairs to be exact) up to Rowan's new classroom. I've got butterflies. "This is gonna be crrraaaazzzzyyy," he says with a big grin.  "Yep, I laugh out loud. Crazy."

We are expecting Miss Caroline (Rowan's guitar teacher and the admissions director at the school) to be waiting for us, along with his teacher Miss Kate, but there are a few unexpected friends too. Mr. Carl, the Head of School, my friend Anne Stanton, and a handful of other parents and teachers who just "stopped by to say hi."

Today's view after starting something new.

We agonized about Rowan's first day at his new school - not knowing what to expect but knowing in our hearts it's the right thing for our boy. This morning is just the validation I needed. A tight-knit group of parents, crowded into the too-small entry of a second grade class, with two pint-sized dogs wandering about - it was the perfect new beginning. For all of us.


Returning to the car relieved, I sink into it's warmth. The lyrics are back again. Although I can't quite figure out who sang them?  The glint of sun interrupts my thoughts and I realize that all of my questions have been replaced. By a feeling. One I can recall on early-Spring runs. Exhilaration. The feeling that goes hand-in-hand with starting something new.