For the past thirteen years, we’ve taken a picture of our twins, Andrew always on the left and Claire on the right, as they head out for the first day of school.

We began this practice as they took off for Kindergarten, looking smart in their new uniforms and not a little bit apprehensive.  Candice and I love this picture at the top of the post because it captures this time in their lives so perfectly.

Yesterday, we took the picture below of our two seniors in high school, heading off once again for another year of  school.  There are so many wonderful memories between these two photographs.

Later in the day, I was headed to the airport in a taxi with a driver who told me he was from Togo.  He couldn’t stop talking about his daughters – the oldest is a student at St. John’s University, the next is a high school junior in Washington, and the youngest is in elementary school.  It was clear that they had achieved a great deal, with a great deal of sacrifice.  But he told me that he wanted his children to avoid the mistakes he had made, and I thought that so much of parenting is trying to impart wisdom as we see it.

I’ll have to admit that when he stopped for a breath, I did a bit of bragging myself.

So here’s to Andrew and Claire.  Have a great senior year guys.

More to come…

DJB