“My Son Asked if He Could Stop by His High School. I Pulled Up to an Empty Parking Lot. He Just Wanted to Say Goodbye.”

“All my son really wanted was a chance to say goodbye…

Yesterday, when my son and I were out running a couple of errands, he asked if he could stop by his high school.

When I pulled up to the empty parking lot, he asked me to park the car and said he wanted to get out for a moment and walk around. As I sat in the car watching him slowly walk the lifeless grounds of his high school, my heart ached for his loss.

He walked up to the front door and peered in – a door that welcomed him for the last four years. He walked past the windows of the cafeteria where he and his friends once gathered to eat, mess around with each other and flirt with girls. He stood at the entrance of the football field and just stared – a field where he spent countless Friday nights cheering on his team, being rowdy and laughing with friends.

Wearing his cherished senior t-shirt (something I didn’t realize until later when I looked back at the picture), he walked around the campus, took a handful of pictures and slowly walked back to the car.

Like thousands of other seniors, my son is missing out on the final season of his high school year- a season that should have been filled with end-of-year events, major milestones, prom, graduation, a graduation party, and final days with friends he’s known for more than a decade.

As hard as this has been on him, he’s weathered this storm well. He’s mature enough to understand the “why,” strong enough to keep it in perspective and brave enough to put this behind him and look toward his future. Still, he’s looking for closure.

I could see it in his eyes… all he really wanted was a chance to say goodbye.

Goodbye to the halls of his high school where he joked around with friends, high-fived teachers and rushed to make it to class on time.

Goodbye to the cafeteria where the jocks, theater kids, cheerleaders, brainiacs, and every other clique’ came together for a few minutes every day. (The truth is, it was always about being together and never about the crappy food.)

Goodbye to the familiar routine that he found comfort in, even though some days were hard as hell.

Goodbye to his favorite teachers who believed in him, guided him and sparked a fire in him.

Goodbye to the cute girl sitting behind him in Physics who he never mustered up the courage to talk to.

Goodbye to the pep rallies where the sound of the drums from the marching band and the rumbling on the bleachers were sometimes so loud he could feel it in his chest.