In a Family Way
September School Bells
By A-Town Gal
Sep 16, 2003, 14:06

Lets see, it has been 32 years since I walked our first born to the first day of school. As I stood with him waiting for the bell to ring signifying the start of a new school year I didn't dare let him see the moisture around my eyes. Somehow we both managed to part, he going into the school building and me walking home. This was my first year of September school bells.

The next year the same scenario took place but now we both knew what to expect and how things worked. The bell rang and the kids entered the school building. But this year as I wiped away the tears before heading home I noticed another mother standing near me going through the first year anxiety and tears. We struck up a conversation and a friendship began.

Going into our third year of September school bells I was considered a pro because I now had two children entering school and I was a PTA member. My friend from the previous year stood with me both trying to be brave and not let tears start. We chatted about the new school year and which teacher our kids would get. Oh, and there was another mother standing alone sending her first born off to school for the first time. We knew we had to help her out. It helps talking to another parent before leaving our kids and heading home. So the tradition started. We mothers would walk our kids to school the first day then stood at the school chatting and crying less. More friendships were made.

We're not sure just what year it started, but after the school bells rang and the kids entered the building us mothers (by now there was a group of us) decided it was time to celebrate our children in school. We ventured off to the park with wine in hand to toast our new school year. By this time the tears had stopped and we were anxious to have some time to ourselves.

So it has come to be this group of mothers who gathered to send their children off to the neighborhood school have continued to remain friends. The first day of school "wine in the park" has turned into a tradition of getting together monthly and has continued for over twenty-five years. We've gone through elementary school, middle school, and high school together. There was PTO, cub scouts, brownies, girl scouts, softball, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer that wound our friendships tighter. We were there for each other's high school graduations and even started a salad swimming pool tradition putting the graduate's name and graduation year on the swimming pool.

It was ten years ago one of us moved out of the neighborhood and miles away. The miles did separate us, but the phone lines and now e-mail keep us together and in touch. Only now instead of the neighborhood school to keep us together we use our birthdays as an excuse to get together and to catch up on the families, our kids engagements, weddings, and the best part, our grandkids,

It's remarkable how thirty some years ago we were mothers who stood alone at the neighborhood school watching our first born enter a new phase of their life and our life, not knowing how blessed we really were. From one mother who stood alone there grew to be two, three, four, and five with a total of ten of us bonding. As the September school bells ring we enter a new school year. We're back in the park to celebrate one of our birthdays, but to also raise our glasses on high to celebrate friendships and long may they continue.