The Last First Day of School Picture

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The camera batteries looked good.
I took out Troy's little School Days Book that
I had bought when he started kindergarten.
It bulged with thirteen years of report cards
tucked neatly into the pouches along with class pictures,
scout certificates, sport pictures, choir programs
and other miscellaneous stuff I'd slid inside.
As I leafed through the pages,
I paused at his first grade picture.
He was wearing a tiny sport coat and tie
and his eyes were seriously bug-eyed.
I remembered when he came home with his first grade picture.
His eyes were closed.
Two weeks later we got a picture retake notice
and went into the bathroom so he could look in the mirror
and practice keeping his eyes open.
He opened them so wide that he looked like he'd seen a ghost.
We laughed and laughed.
As he went out the door to the school bus with his dad,
I called out to him, "Don't forget to keep your eyes open!"
He turned and opened his eyes as wide as they could go
and yelled back, "Like this mommy?!"
He knew I would laugh and was rewarded appropriately.
As I look at his little School Days Book,
I always turn to that page.
His first grade picture
with that frozen startled expression.
I can still hear little his voice.
"Like this mommy?!"