“That’s my school!”

There are several ways to get from my house to the interstate and other places, but I often choose the route that takes me by my daughter’s school.

If she is with me, she will usually sit up and point. “That’s my school!”

When I drive by alone during school hours, I like to slow down and see if there are kids playing on the playground. Maybe I will see her.

If it’s night, the school looks very different. If it’s dark, it looks kind of… alone.

But it’s mostly happy place, and I can tell you, I don’t recall ever going to buy my own grade school as a kid and thinking I wanted to be anywhere near it! I’m very proud that my daughter enjoys school and has so many friends there, and loves attending. I had friends, but as far as attending? Well, no. I didn’t dislike school, but I certainly didn’t like it. It was something that had to be done and so I did it. I enjoyed high school a lot, and I probably enjoyed college too much, but that’s a story for a different time.

So as I venture forth today, there’s a chill in the air and there are Christmas songs on the radio, and I am probably driving by my daughter school.

I will slow down in peek at the playground. Maybe I will see her.

In a few years, she won’t go there anymore, and a few years after that she will be off to college, probably nowhere near here.

At that time, it might still be fun to drive by her old grade school and peek at the playground and see the kids playing. It will bring back many fond memories and possibly a tear.

In fact, I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t.