El Fin.

Amidst all the goodbye parties, gifts, and grief, I managed to capture the loves of my life these past 10 months in a photo. Each group has a distinct personality; I've reduced each down to a few descriptive adjectives to give you a sense of who they are. You can fill in the rest. What became very clear to me in the past few weeks is how much I loved these kids, and they loved me. It made the end taste a lot more bitter than I anticipated.

8A - Mischievous, talkative, good at heart

8B - Intelligent, quirky, hilarious (My homeroom)

7th Grade - Creative, overly chatty, lovable

6th Grade - Innocent, naughty, eager to please

8th grade girls' swim party at the Silkwood's

At graduation with Allie, a fave of mine. The lei is a California tradition.

8th graders are simply wonderful. And all grown up!

Someday I'll share bits and pieces of the notes, cards, and letters I received from my kids at the end of the year. They are so valuable to me (you all know how I feel about the power of the written word). Their words are genuine and gracious and make me all misty eyed when I read them over and over again. But that's for another day. Today all you get are my pictures.