The Final of Four

When Nick entered his senior year not just at a new high school, but in a new country on the opposite side of the world, we were not thinking about his graduation. We were all in survival mode. 

But eventually, life normalized.

As the months slipped away from his senior year, strange things started happening. 

Traditions. 

Evidently, there was a lot of traditions that went along with this rite of passage.

The first one we encountered was this strange thing called Senior Chalking. I was clueless.  

After the year of their graduation was colored onto the high school side of the plaza, each senior grabbed a spot and wrote their name. They personalized their spot with pictures or designs. 

So when the spring of Ben's senior year approached, I knew what was coming. The timing of the chalking was important, too. It was to be done when the year of the graduation matched the number of hours left to graduation. 

At the end of the school day, the seniors gather, along with all the weepy moms and proud fathers, to toast the last weeks of school as high school students.

Talk about bittersweet!

So when the calendar rolled over to 2019, I knew what was right around the corner.

Yes. The final installment of Senior Chalking for the Dingus family.

As you can imagine, this is a several day undertaking. It takes several days for each senior to complete the picture. More if rain washed away their artwork and they have to restart.

Jake started Tuesday during a study hall but then went over after supper to keep working on his masterpiece. We couldn't pass up a chance to sneak up and do a little spying.

I asked him if he was going to add Jacob, but his friend nearby interjected that he had never called Jacob by his first name. Everyone calls him Dingus; even his teachers; even the parents of his friends. He is not Jacob. He's simply Dingus, or one of the many derivatives that have morphed over the last seven years.

Fortunately, for the class of 2019, the rain stayed away. 

If you look closely, you might see some of the little details that he added.

Why the bird, you may ask.  At some point in his career as a Morrison student, Dingus become Dingoose, to Dongoose, to simply Goose.

At the end of the school day, the seniors gathered to toast their last days as a high school student.

The class of 2019.

After the toasting and all the "official" pictures, the unofficial photographing began!

Proud parents first, of course!

Classmates and teammates for over 7 years!

James, a soccer and track teammate, and a good friend!

These three were the youngest of three Morrison families who started the same year together. They were just sixth graders, and through the years have maintained a close friendship. At our Prefield Orientation, I called them The Three Musketeers. All their older siblings were teenagers, and were in a different group.

The three senior mission trip leaders for the Boracay team. They made a great leadership team.

And the last picture (I didn't post all of them) of the afternoon was with this little one. She is the child of one of our dorm parents. She loves spending time with Jake when he visits friends in her dorm. 

My personal goal for the day was not to cry. Now you may be asking yourself why would I make that a goal. There is nothing wrong with crying at such a joyous event.

After going through this beginning of the end tradition three previous times, I learned that if I start crying now, I'll be crying all the way to May 30th. I discovered it's much easier to stop the crying before it starts than after it has started.

I'll save those tears for graduation!