Cry me a River
Today is Zoe's last day of school. She's at the local Salesian nun's school, named for Madre Mazzarello. Also known as Mamma Mozzarella around our house. We aren't catholic (shhh!) and there were a number of things at the school that I wasn't crazy about, but I cried *again* when telling her teacher goodbye. Maestra Ilaria is probably about 26 or 27, from Montecatini Therme. She's pretty and sweet and loves the kids -- and Zoe adores her. Everything that happens she says -- ooh, can I tell Ilaria? At the end of the year, Ilaria sat down with us and went through a collection of the work they had done this year and pointed out what Zoe had drawn, how her drawings had developed (scribbles, to pictures of people with faces and finally bodies) -- apparently these are important developmental steps. She told me that Zoe was very well-behaved, almost too well behaved! That she was up to speed in Italian and colors, shapes, numbers, etc. That she was more shy than some of the other kids. I thought it was very professional and showed a lot of thought for each of the kids.
On the very first day of school I'd taken some pictures of Zoe, in her little pink smock and her braids.
By chance, the other child in the picture is Tomasso, her best friend at school (and my best mom-friend from school!) Barbara and Tommy are also moving away in a few weeks, and her husband is working in the new city, so we have a lot in common these days. I made a mug for Ilaria with the picture and captioned it with "Thanks from the heart from Zoe and Tomasso" and on the back I put the quote: All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. When Barbara and I gave her the mug we both started crying (I mean sobbing.) Poor Ilaria, having to deal with all these kids AND the mom's mental breakdowns!
I guess that leaving the school and Ilaria is just one of the first and most concrete milestones for closing this chapter down, and that's why I'm having such a hard time with it. I need to get to a place where I'm looking ahead at all the great things that are going to happen in the next chapter, rather than looking back and being sad for what we are leaving...
On the very first day of school I'd taken some pictures of Zoe, in her little pink smock and her braids.
By chance, the other child in the picture is Tomasso, her best friend at school (and my best mom-friend from school!) Barbara and Tommy are also moving away in a few weeks, and her husband is working in the new city, so we have a lot in common these days. I made a mug for Ilaria with the picture and captioned it with "Thanks from the heart from Zoe and Tomasso" and on the back I put the quote: All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. When Barbara and I gave her the mug we both started crying (I mean sobbing.) Poor Ilaria, having to deal with all these kids AND the mom's mental breakdowns!
I guess that leaving the school and Ilaria is just one of the first and most concrete milestones for closing this chapter down, and that's why I'm having such a hard time with it. I need to get to a place where I'm looking ahead at all the great things that are going to happen in the next chapter, rather than looking back and being sad for what we are leaving...