Support a Senior (or two…or three)!

All of us are in the midst of a pandemic and unforeseen and unimaginable things are happening in the world as a result. Many horrible things are mixed in with many blessings. I have been fortunate to stay in my job, my husband is on furlough and is staying home with the kids. We have 18 year old twins, Connor and Rachel, who are high school seniors and almost three weeks ago, we invited a foreign exchange student from Italy, Gigi (Ginevra), to live with us. Gigi’s former host family wanted her to go home, she did not want to leave yet. She would have had to fly under these conditions and into a country ravaged with disease and death. Her family did not want this, either, and neither did we! She very easily could have contracted the illness or at the very least she would have to travel all that way and then have to be quarantined by herself for, at minimum, two weeks. So, we have a new daughter for a while!

A blessing amidst other blessings too varied, unbelievable and personal to share. A blessing that is simple and obvious to us is the blessing of extra, traditional family time. We have been talking more, eating together more (at the table, even!), listening to music together more, the kids have been exercising and walking more, they have been playing chess together and with their father, we have been playing cards more, connecting with friends via video chat, my kids have been contributing more to the household chores, they have been focusing on their schoolwork, I have finally been working on understanding the mechanics of this blog so I can hopefully launch it! Lots of good things.

One thing that is especially sad to us right now is that Connor, Rachel and Gigi should be finishing up studying, but also celebrating their senior year. They are missing out on Senior Bash, their Senior Trip, Senior Ball, their last Moving Up Day and may even miss out on their graduation! Many on social media, including me, have posted their senior picture as a gesture of support the the Class of 2020. It has been nice! Then I started seeing the occasional post from friends who are perhaps genuinely wondering how this can make the senior feel better. In fact, some have noted, it might make the seniors feel worse. Some have wondered if this demographic is even on Facebook to see these shows of support. FYI, some are. I personally know of several in my kids’ class who are on it on the regular.

So, here is my response to what I have seen:

In response to the people who wonder how posting a pic in honor of a Class of 2020 senior could make these kids who maybe won’t even be able to walk the stage and graduate feel better, it might not! The fact is, it might be more for the rest of us mourning their loss. It’s for the parents who have been with these kids since day one and were looking forward to this milestone as much, if not maybe more, as their offspring. The fact is, these seniors might not even realize the full impact of what they are missing because they’re missing it.

So, if some parents and other people who are feeling bad for them or others who might just be sitting at home bored out of their minds yet wanting to feel connected to others and at the same time show solidarity for these young people decide they want to post their senior pic, maybe just sit back and scroll by if it bothers you. No need to call it out and ask why.

I, for one, think it’s a wonderful show of support and it’s been fun to see the photos coming out…big hair, pearls, sideburns, thick glasses and all!

I’m praying they get to recoup some of these senior moments!

#ClassOf2020 #ERProud #MUD