Bittersweet, to be sure. There have been far, far more ups than downs at USN for both of our boys. The education JP and Joe received there has been top notch. The boys have had outstanding teachers across the board. Ms. Hagan, Ms. Roth, Mr. Kleiner, Ms. Dortch, Ms. Fields, Ms. Abington, and so many others. Nonpareil educators each and every one of them.
JP and Joe have been seen, nurtured, taught, and mentored at USN. Honestly, if I could do it all over again, I would send both of them USN. No doubt about it. The school has shaped who my boys are and who they will become. I'm grateful for that.
I remember the Friday morning when Jude and I sent the e-mail to Juliet Douglas, the Director of Admission, to tell her that we had decided JP would attend USN that fall rather than Oak Hill School. Thinking about the e-mail she sent back to us in reply - all these years later - makes me smile and almost cry, too. In that e-mail, Juliet wrote that she was, literally, dancing around her office in celebration of the fact that our JP, and our family, would be joining the USN family that fall. And we did. remaining a part of the USN family for the next 11 years.
Socially, the boys fit in well at USN. JP and Joe found their people, so to speak. For JP, it was Henry, Cecil, JD, Abe, Aidan, and a few others. For Joe, it was Sam, Rory, Sawyer, Walker, Bennett, Jackson, and Max. At USN, the boys were seen, nurtured, and generally enveloped in a cocoon of tolerance, love, and friendship. In many ways, it was an idyllic time in their lives. Learning. Growing. Maturing. All of it under the watchful eyes of a caring faculty and administration.
At times, I've regretted that Jude and I didn't get more involved at USN. We rarely socialized with parents other than those we already knew when the boys started to school there. Certainly, we didn't make any new, close friends among the parents of USN children. Sure, we donated to the Annual Fund every year and appeared at school for popsicle parties, field day, etc. We went to all of the boys' parent-teacher conferences and the presentations they did in the classroom. I guess we never were socially involved. Neither of us served on the board of directors.
I was so very involved at Children's House. I served on the board of directors for seven years, in total, and served as board president. I was consumed by Children's House. It was an intensely beautiful time in our lives when the boys were in school there. In a way, perhaps I felt like another school, even USN, couldn't match Children's House in terms of our level of commitment and engagement. Maybe I felt like USN didn't need my involvement as much, because it's a much larger operation. Or, maybe I was a little burned out.
What always strikes me the most and causes a twinge of guilt, however, is that after 11 years of the boys at USN, if I walked in the school this morning, I still don't completely know my way around it.
For me, leaving USN marks the end of childhood for our boys. That's a tough one for me to take, too. The end of recess and P.E. The end of birthday parties on weekends. The end of parent-teacher conferences. The end of pickups from After Care. The end of little or no homework. The end of no exams. The end of innocence.
When I'm running the neighborhood and I pass by Children's House, I feel a twinge of nostalgia. Every time. I miss "Joe Time," the 45 minutes or so he and I spent together every morning after Jude took JP to USN. I miss doing the drop-off for Joe at Children's House every morning, often pushing him in the swings on the playground before school. I can almost hear the children's voices as I run by Children's House.'
I'll probably feel the same way when I run through Music Row when my route takes me by USN. Maybe more so, since the boys were there longer.
As I close, I've got the Byrds' 1965 classic on my mind, "Turn, Turn, Turn." It seems appropriate for a Sunday morning, Memorial Day Weekend, as I think about saying goodbye to USN.
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