The power of a song.

Imagine, if you will, that you are sitting with a group of parents and friends of a class of fifteen-year-olds at the end of their time at a school most of them have attended since Year 1. Being a Catholic School, they are attending their last School Mass before going off to their Graduation Dinner. They’re all dressed up, all looking scarily grown up. Most of them will be saying goodbye to each other tonight as they head off to different boarding schools in the city next year. Then, during a time of quiet contemplation in the service, they put this song on the CD player...




Could you sit there with dry eyes? I don’t think anyone did on Monday night either. Why do they play these songs on these occasions? Don’t they think we’re emotional enough already? It is a beautiful song and extremely apt, but I could have done without it, even though I’m one of the few mothers whose son is staying at home and going to the government senior high school in town next year.

The dinner was a great success apparently, as was the party afterwards at the Head Girl’s house! Eldest was staying at his best friend’s house (so that I didn’t have to drive to town at 11pm) and didn’t get back there until about 2am. But he’d had a good night and the School Principal took lots of photos of the evening. He’s given each student a copy of them on disc so they have a record of the night, which I thought was a lovely gesture.