Several years ago, my friend Amy told me about a book she read that discussed how parents celebrate the “firsts”, but often miss the “lasts”. Usually it’s because we don’t know when those “lasts” will be…the last time we read a book to our child in bed, the last lost tooth, the last Band-Aid we apply.
Today, however, is a “last” that I am very aware of. Today is Ellie’s’s last “first day” of school.* I celebrated Emma’s last just two years ago, and it still seems like yesterday. And yet time doesn’t slow down. Ellie’s last first day is here far sooner than I expected.
This is the last year we’ll have a “first day” picture with multiple kids, the last year I’ll have a daughter on a high school sports team, the last time I’ll teach Ellie in
my English class, most likely the last
time I’ll direct her in a play.
And, as with Emma, I’ll only have a one year reprieve before I have my final last first day with Thomas.
These pictures are from the kids’ first day at school (in Madrid, Spain) – the first time all three were in school together. It is hard to believe I took those 12 years ago. Hard to believe we’ve been to four different schools since then, moved across the Atlantic and across the US. Hard to believe those adorable little babies are now all 
amazing teens on the brink of adulthood.
So I am, once again, celebrating this “last”. I am pausing to thank God for the years He has given me to parent my children, to buy school supplies and go to volleyball games and kiss hurts and host slumber parties. I am thankful for kids who love Jesus and love each other and bring us joy. I am thankful that, while this may be a “last”, Lord willing, there will be many, many more “firsts” to come.
*We are on a modified year-round schedule: school starts in July and ends in May.
