Kindergarten
Interesting topic. Personally, I did not go to Kindergarten. The small town we in central Illinois where we lived didn't have Kindergarten. It wasn't required by the state yet. Yes, I'm that old!
I clearly remember when our oldest daughter went to Kindergarten. Her Sunday School teachers and Pre-school teachers were ladies that loved on her and made her feel special. The Kindergarten teacher didn't have those skills and and we had many stressful mornings with a little girl crying that she didn't want to go to school. I was dreading the next 12 years of school! We managed to survive that year, she loved learning and now does substitute teaching at the school were her daughters attend.
Last week, our youngest granddaughter 'graduated' from Kindergarten. There wasn't such a celebration when our girls finished Kindergarten. We had some sort of last day festivities and then waited for 1st grade in the fall. Things are done quite differently now, but frankly I love it. I'm all about celebrating!
At my age, it common to ponder events in life in comparison to similar events in my own life. School, for instance.
Our oldest granddaughter finished 3rd grade this year. I remember only a couple things about 1st and 2nd grade. But I clearly remember 3rd grade.
We moved in January of 3rd grade to Sullivan, Illinois. The only other thing I remember about 3rd grade was never feeling like I belonged. I was the 'new girl' for 3 years. When you move into a new town of about 3,000 people, and for the most part everyone had always lived there, you're still the new girl at school even after 3 years. Funny, many years later I made friends with people in Auburn who were from Sullivan and we realized we had some connections from years past.
We moved in December of 6th grade. This time to Nashville, Illinois. Again, I felt like the new girl for another 4 1/2 years. Except at church. I fit in there and made life long friends. And thanks to Facebook, it's easier to stay in touch now.
Moved again at the end my Sophomore year, 2 weeks before my 16th birthday. My time in Robinson, was short - a year and a half. There was a group at our church that made me feel welcomed and right at home as soon as I arrive. And God put people in my path at school that became great friends. Through them and some circumstances, I really began to grow in my spiritual walk.
Last school move was 2 weeks before first semester exams my Senior year. My parents moved again 3 years later and I eventually moved there also.
And God saved the last best for last! The final move was to Virden, Illinois, which is where I met my precious Marky! I've been asked many times if I regretted all the moves. Because of all those moves, I have friends all over Illinois. It was difficult to say the least, but I learned a lot through those moves. Tho most of what I learned I didn't realize at the time, aging puts childhood things into a more clear perspective.
Mark and I made one more move to the west coast. We had both lived in Illinois our entire lives, and Mark has lived in two towns just seven miles apart. God gave us our dream and brought us to Reno so we could be a part of the lives of our granddaughters. Attending dance recitals, Christmas programs, graduations and birthday parties, those are things that bring us great joy these days.
