Finally Happening

From all the years that have passed,
it is now so hard to believe that the time
has come for one to leave this place,
this place that has been your home for so long.
This home, where you know all
the rooms and want they contain,
to the beautifully colored and decorated
walls that represent who you are and
what you want to be some day.
From the meals that you were given
every night around the family table,
all the way to clothes that you
were given for Christmas even
though you really wanted that puppy,
all the way to the simple smiles
that you are always expecting
when you walk through the door of your home.
Seconds seemed like minutes,
minutes seemed like hours,
hours turned into days,
days turned into weeks,
weeks into months,
and finally the months seemed
to slowly creep into years.
Years that seemed like forever,
they seemed like forever only because
of all that you have seen and done.
From beginning elementary school and
bringing home that pretty picture
that you painted in class today,
all the way to your first day of high school.
All the way from the start as freshmen,
we have been given expectations of
the things that are to be done and
the things that are to come;
and now as high school comes to an
end, you now realize all the things that
you have over come and all the things
that are soon to come your way.
From all the planning that has been done,
to taking the ACT and SAT so many
times it now seems like your
brain is melting. To deciding
what classes to take, so that
they will be able to help
you prepare for what is next to come.
From AP to advanced to the simple
classes that people take only
so that they are able to pass.
Pass with a grade that was not earned
but only given to them.
As time slowly creeps around the corner,
you now see all the things that
your parents tried to warn you about.
From failing classes, to friends,
you wish that you could forget it all,
just like a nightmare that scared you.
As your final year approaches quickly,
you are not sure of what is next to come.
From making sure you have all that
is required to pass,
to sending out resumes to all those
colleges and universities around the world,
only to have to wait with patience,
to see if you get that letter,
the letter that seals your fait.
Those words that seem to follow
you where ever you go.
As letters arrive you peek inside
only to find some that say
ACCEPTED or REJECTED.
Your eyes fill with tears
of excitement or with tears of sadness,
not knowing what else to do.
From skipping to sobbing
you know still that the
final decision is one that will
be harder then anything
you have even done in your life.
As you narrow your choices,
your parents try to help,
and with the feeling of only
wanting to be alone, you
feel as though your mind
is stuck inside a tornado and
there is no way out.
Spinning round and round,
till the walls cave in and
your mind is an empty sheet of paper,
finally you pick the one,
the one that seemed to have all that
you were looking for;
from teachers, to students,
to those cool dorms on campus.
As the final weeks arrive,
you begin to pack up all your belongings
into big brown boxes that say “this side up.”
As the big day arrives, you stand at the
end of your driveway and as you
slowly turn around and look, you see
a single tear roll down your mothers
check. Running up to say good-bye,
they hold you tightly, as if they never
want to let go, like you were still
the little girl that that believed in
the boogie man, and would always
come running to daddy for a kiss
upon her finger after she fell.
As they loosen their grip,
and say one last good-bye,
you turn away and head back down
the driveway to the running car,
with boxes inside, stacked to the ceiling.
As you slowly get in, and buckle up,
you take one final look at your parents,
and wave good-bye,
and in a single moment, the car
whisks away, leaving only the
sound of their daughter’s laughter in their mind.
Months pass, and the seasons change,
but as the silence is broken
by a knock upon the front door,
you look outside only to find,
the little girl that has come so far,
and has done to much,
and in some way has never grown up
from the little girl that I used to know.