The Start of the End

Today, senior year of high school began, unofficially, for Levi. The first day of marching band camp. The start of the school year. Senior year, the last year. Looking back to the same first day in 2022 I am struck by the change. That day in 2022 I drove him to camp after taking this picture. This year, as we were talking about that first year, I said "only this year, I'm not driving you." Half-listening as he always does, he replied, "you're driving me?"

OK, so some things haven't changed much. 

He's a good human, and always has been. He cares for people and for animals, always has. He knows right and wrong, and he works hard. 

Still, the images show change. Apart from the physical change, depicting a child growing into a young man, we see a boy become a man in the broader sense. 

Not just because he's got a job, and he's buying his own stuff. No just because he drives a car (he's an excellent driver). And not just because he's got a plan to do "something medical" with his future, and has the ability to pursue it as far as he wants. It's because he's figured out that happiness is the true goal of life. I hope he learned that from me. 

Nonetheless, I think marching band played a central role in developing him into the young man he is today. He's learned discipline, team work, leadership, and the ability work through the most daunting obstacles. It is, and he is, everything I hoped for on that July morning back in 2022.