the family trip to phoenix

It's very hard for me to believe that I've hit the point in my parenting life where I'm touring the junior high that my son will be attending next year.  I'm old!  What makes it really freaky is that I attended the same school from 5th to 8th grade, and other than the additions of a couple of wings, it hasn't changed much.

I'm pretty sure my husband was getting sick of me saying things like, "Oh My God, I remember that!" and "It hasn't changed a bit" and "Oh, this is so weird!"  So, now I get to type it all in here and he doesn't have to deal with it...unless he feels like reading it...then it's his own problem.

As soon as we walked in the doors, the memories started flooding back.  The lobby hasn't changed a bit, so I could see myself sitting on the bench in front of the tile mural of the founder of the town.  We were steered to the cafeteria which, other than the loss of a storage closet and cubbies against the walls, hasn't changed either.  The holes in the arches of the ceiling from kids throwing pencils up there had multiplied, the same faded yellow and blue chairs and white/grey tables that we sat at every lunch and study hall period had remained, but with new names etched into them.  I picked out where my art exhibit was in 8th grade, remembered sitting at one of the front tables in 7th grade homeroom and replayed a moment in my mind when I had a "boyfriend" in 6th grade when all that basically meant was you sat next to each other at lunch and went on dates to PG movies.


We sat in the cafeteria for a while, listening to the (very young) principal and vice principal talk the place up with the help of current students.  The "it's not as scary as you think" talk.  Then they sent us to the library which is attached to the back.  I found myself actually getting excited to be able to go in there again.  The only disappointment I had was noticing that the walls were painted a sterile white instead of the avocado green that they used to be.  The dark wooden tables and chairs were still in there along with the matching shelving for the books.  Suddenly I remembered that I was a library helper for one year, checking books out, putting them away, etc.  I had completely forgotten about it (as I had blocked out much of 6th and 7th grades because they were awkward and not terribly pleasant).  I remembered that the little room behind and to the right of the desk was for periodicals.  I honestly don't even know if they still have print periodicals for the kids to look at anymore - how scary is that?  More memories played in my mind - spending lunch periods in there watching "Anne of Green Gables," my friends' 8th grade art exhibits, waiting impatiently in that room for our turn to sing during choir concerts, my 8th grade science project on erosion...

Then came the grand tour of the building.  Well, "grand" might not be the correct word for it.  Groups were led around the halls by a few middle school students, no rooms were open, and I could barely hear a word that was said.  I didn't care too much though, because the places we were taken were in the old section of the building with all of the rooms I new and loved...and hated. The home ec rooms with a kitchen in one and sewing machines in the other, the art rooms where I spent so much of my free time working on projects and in OM practices, the former industrial arts room that now housed the "tech ed" rooms instead, the choir room on the second floor above the gym. Old worn lockers lined the walls and I could remember the general areas where mine resided - the insides of their doors covered with pictures of cute actors and meaningful quotes.  Wow - I remembered a lot more than I thought I did.

The tour concluded in the lobby, but our son noticed that there were people in the gym, so he had to go see it.  I'm pretty sure he was in awe of it's size.  His grade school has one room that is both gym and cafeteria.  It's small, has some rubbery flooring, and it's pretty generic.  This gym is a real gym - wooden floors, 6 different basketball hoops, bleachers along the wall.  He picked up a basketball and joined in with the rest of the kids and didn't want to stop.  It was at this point that I realized that even though junior high had some very rough spots as it does with all kids, I had some pretty good times there.  Sure, I was picked on quite a bit - by both students and some teachers, had my heart "broken" many times and for a while never quite fit in, but I also was able to try new things, laugh a lot, and I met my best life-long friends there.  Those are the things that are worth remembering.  Hopefully my son will be able to make some great memories there as well.