To Be Known

Today was the last day of school.

It’s tradition at our elementary to “clap out” the fifth graders for their final time leaving the building. All the other grades line the halls and cheer for the students who have completed their elementary career. There were leaps of joy. There were broad smiles of victory. There were faces of deep introspection. As each kid passed by me at the final doorway out of the building they were visibly full of the emotions that had been bubbling up through their years at the school.

I knew my son was near the end of the line. I was watching out for the helmet he wears for his bike ride home. I saw the bright white shine come around the corner, but as the hallway was packed with people I could not see his face. I knew he would be weepy. It’s been the same for all the last school days of his life. I was not prepared for what I saw.

Do you know what got him? Do you know what meant so much?

He was loved here.

This was a place he knew they KNEW him, and they wanted him. This was a place of deep learning. Not only of facts and equations, but of heart and character. Of right and wrong. Of the ebb and flow of life. A place where he discovered how special he truly is, where he could let his light shine. And did he ever.

Today he was so glad to have been known this way that he felt like he could burst. He felt that physical pain of exultation that our bodies just cannot contain. He knew excruciating joy.

What a gift. What a treasure. To be known and loved. It is the ultimate.