Back to school has always been a big deal in our house.
I loved the excitement of a new school year. The new backpack. Fresh school supplies. The first-day outfit. The pictures before heading out the door.
But for me, it was always about more than getting ready for school.
I wanted my kids to be excited about what was waiting for them.
A new teacher. New friends. New books. New things to discover. Another year to learn a little more about the world and a little more about themselves.
I wanted them to love school.
And every year, when that first day came around, I thought about all the possibilities ahead of them. The history they would learn. The experiences they would have. The people they would meet.
And, eventually, the history they would forge for themselves.
This year, back to school feels different.
My son is beginning his final semester of college.
His last first day of school.
Even writing those words makes me pause.
Because I can still see the little boy heading off to kindergarten.
Then elementary school.
Middle school.
High school.
I remember all those first days and all those pictures. I remember watching him grow a little taller, a little more independent and a little more sure of himself with each passing year.
And then came the first day that required more than a drive to school.
We packed up the car and took him to college.
I helped him move into his dorm, said goodbye and drove home knowing we had entered a completely different chapter.
And now, somehow, here we are.
That little boy is all grown up.
There are no more first-day backpacks for me to pack. No school supply lists to check. No first-day outfit waiting for my approval.
Instead, I get to watch the young man he has become walk into his final semester of college and prepare for whatever comes next.
And I am so incredibly proud of him.
There is something bittersweet about realizing that while you were busy living all of those ordinary first days, they were becoming part of your family's history.
Maybe that's why I've always believed so deeply in the idea behind our History in the Making pin.
We tend to think of history as something that happened a long time ago. Something printed in textbooks. Names, dates and moments we're supposed to remember.
But history is also being made in the moments we are living right now.
It is the kindergartner walking into school for the first time.
The middle schooler discovering who they are.
The high school student beginning to imagine what comes next.
The college student finding their own way.
And sometimes, it is a mother looking at her grown son and wondering how all those first days passed so quickly.
I wanted my children to learn their history. To understand the shoulders they stood on and the sacrifices that created opportunities for them.
But I also wanted them to understand that their story mattered, too.
That they weren't simply learning history.
They were living it.
They were building lives, creating memories, finding their voices, pursuing their dreams and adding their own chapters to the story.
They were, and still are, History in the Making.
So this back-to-school season, I'll take one more first-day picture.
Only this time, I'll know it's the last one.
And while a part of me will always see that little boy heading off to kindergarten, I couldn't be prouder of the man standing in front of me today.
One chapter is almost finished.
And I cannot wait to see the history he makes next.
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