In August 2017, when Connor was about to start first grade, he and I spent a few days in Dayton to visit my late grandparents and my BFF, Amy.
This past week, he and Aaron and I all spent a few days in Dayton to visit Amy. Of course, I took the opportunity to capture a then-and-now photo at JD’s Custard.
The transition from elementary to junior high was a little rocky for everyone involved, but we all came out the other side older and wiser.
He specifically requested to go to my stylist again instead of a discount haircuttery. Schuyler did an awesome job, as always.
I had just flashed my usual I Love You 🤟🏻 to Connor as the school bus pulled away. When I turned to walk back up the driveway, our matching sets of footprints stood out to me in the morning snow. We wear the same size shoe now: his men’s size 8 tread-marks are on the left, and my women’s size 10 slide-prints are on the right.
This school year is the first that Connor has taken the bus in the mornings since Kindergarten, since the elementary bus pickup conflicted with my work schedule. During those elementary years, I drove him to school — either for Extended Time in the mornings before school, or directly to school on days when I worked from home. Those short drives to school were some of the best one-on-one times I’ve had with Connor, and I had mixed feelings about losing that time with him.
Luckily for me, he still likes having me wait with him for the bus — and not just because I have the iPhone app that shows where the bus is on her route.
This post has been languishing in my Drafts folder for nearly a year now.
There was clearly more that I wanted to say at the time, but didn’t quite manage to get into words. There’s even more to say now that a year has passed… but that’s a post for another day.
The date embroidered on Connor’s black belt is December 3, 2022; mine says December 17.
It may have taken longer than expected, but we finally have the tangible proof that we’ve earned the rank of black belt.
The interesting and perhaps unique perk of our dojo is that we now get to cross-train. Connor and I now attend a weekly all-ages Black Belts Only class, which introduces the kids with black belts in American Freestyle Karate to Krav Maga concepts, and the Krav Maga adults get to learn forms and katas.