Inside King's-Edgehill School
Dear KES Family:
It was late in the evening when I wandered into our TV room. Belinda was watching a show and for a few minutes I watched alongside her. I don’t watch the show or know the names of the characters, but I was impressed by the writing. One of the lines struck a chord with me:
“If something makes you sad when it ends it must have been pretty wonderful when it was happening.”
That pretty much sums up how I am feeling right now. The end of the year is upon us, the big tent has arrived for graduation, and it is time to say goodbye. For the first time in three years, we are caught in the conflicting emotions that come with a proper Closing Day. If I am sad now it is because it was wonderful when it was happening. This year had its challenges, of course, most of them brought on by COVID-19, but we accomplished much this year…memories flip through my interior vision like a slideshow.
During prefect training before school started, I asked the assembled grads what their hopes and fears were for this year. They were intertwined: hopes for a prom or for Cadet Ball and fears that COVID-19 restrictions would prevent them from happening…hopes for a proper rugby or soccer or hockey season and fears that they would be cancelled. Now that we are at the end of the year, these hopes have come true. We stabbed the haggis at the Mess Dinner. We had Winter Carnival, complete with tug-of-wars and snowshoe races. We had dramatic productions and parades and dances and travel and championships. We had three examination periods (in person no less!).
And so, I am happy and sad at the same time. Happy we had the kind of year we hoped for, and sad that it is over.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and restorative summer,
P.S. The ravens on campus are doing just fine :)
Sincerely,
Joe Seagram
