I noticed when we moved to East Cobb that high school seniors often paint their cars before the first day of school with phrases like “Class of 17!!!” or “Seniors!!!” Always lots of exclamation points. Always lots of enthusiasm. It’s one of those things you see when your kid is a freshman, and you think, “We can’t forget to do that senior year!!!” We almost forgot.
Gigi has been going non-stop since she returned from GHP. It’s hard to keep up. She started a life guarding class and is finishing up her summer work and there were senior portraits and her IB biology project and on and on. It dawned on me Friday that we hadn’t squeezed this activity into the schedule. Because even painting your car for the first day of school requires scheduling in her busy world.
I can’t remember where she was all day yesterday, but she worked all day today, so her father and I went out and bought the paint. My husband must be feeling particularly sentimental, because he does not engage in activities that have even the slightest potential to make our daughter unsafe. He has put more money into that old family van than it’s worth just to make sure Gigi can get to her desinations safely. “As long as she only paints the windows on the side,” he insisted.
There was a light rain falling when Gigi got home. She couldn’t paint right away. She tried to wait it out, but night began to fall. So, at around 9pm, Gigi went outside in her jammies, and in the light from the garage, dried the car windows with a towel and painted them. This is very typical of her. If she wants to do something, she’ll figure out a way to get it done.
There were some first day jitters tonight. From her and from us. This is a big year, with a lot of big decisions and hard work coming her way. She will figure it out. She will figure out a way to get it done.