Reliving "He Graduates in Twenty Days"

The SITS Back to Blogging Event assignment for today is to re-upload a post with a title that you are particularly proud of and explain why. This was really hard for me, because I just don't do a great job titling my posts. I know I should have more keywords, be less vague, but sometimes the title is harder for me to write than the whole rest of the post! Anyway, this one was titled: "He Graduates in Twenty Days" and just the sight of those words brought tears to my eyes, because I remember this day so well, and "He graduates in twenty days" were the words my heart was tapping out in Morse Code in my chest that day. It was a tough one.

He wore it all week.

His first week of Boy Scout Camp

in the Summer of 2003

He had just finished fifth grade

and he'd be gone for a week

a whole, entire week.

Gone all the way to Camp Daniel Boone

in the mountains of North Carolina

where he'd sleep in a tent

and swim in a cold mountain lake.

He came home tanned,

and filthy,

and very pleased with himself.

I thought he had a sore throat

from sleeping outdoors all week.

The I realized

his voice had started to change.

It's hard to let them

grow up.

Disclaimer: One of this week's prompts on Mama Kat's Writers' Workshop involves writing a 20-line poem dedicated to a favorite item of clothing. I'm not consciously trying to find things to get sappy and emotional about as my eldest chick prepares to leave the nest . . . really.

Remember Thelma and Louise? They will go home with one lucky participant in the SITS Back To Blogging Event, and I think they would be happiest at my house. In fact, I am prepared to repaint and replace the flooring in my pantry / laundry room just to make them feel comfy. Here are the people responsible for Thelma and Louise: Standards of Excellence, Westar, and Florida Builder Appliances. I don't know who the genius is that came up with the idea to manufacture these in that perfectly gorgeous shade of turquoise, but I hope they got a big bonus!