Several years ago Zack came home from Lutz in a state of excitement — more so than a typical day at Lutz. Before he was even through the front door he was jabbering on about getting a ring, which finger he was going to wear it on, how he was going to show it off (yeah he thinks the mechanical wave of those Miss America-wanna-bes on the homecoming float is the way to go), and how totally cool he was going to be when he finally joined the ranks of all those Lutz Completers before him and received his class ring. Of course, between his warp-speed banter and garbled slur of excitement, I really didn’t know what he was talking about. After several minutes of cross-examination though, I finally surmised that in their final year, Completers receive a class ring.

At the time I didn’t think much about it. I thought it was definitely a nice remembrance for the students, but knowing Zack, I figured the thrill would quickly wear off. That, plus the fact that whenever Zack wears any piece of jewelry, it typically doesn’t last more than long enough for a quick photo before he takes it off and puts it back in his jewelry box. I’m not sure if it’s a tactile-defensive sort of thing or if he just doesn’t like to wear jewelry, but we can’t even get him to wear a watch consistently.

For years, Zack has talked about getting his ring and how he planned on wearing it all the time. Unlike many interests, he has never wavered from his excited anticipation. What has changed, however, is that now, although he is excited about the prospect of receiving his very own class ring, the reality of this being his LAST year at Lutz looms heavily in the background. Well, “background” might be the wrong word because as we progress through this final year, the “bad” days are beginning to outnumber the good ones. By that I mean he is spending more time fretting, worrying, and absolutely dreading his last day of school. Even so, everything and anything about “his ring” will always put a smile on his face.

The beginning of his first full week of school we received the following letter:

You can imagine the excitement when I showed this to Zack. He jumped up and down, and yes, I’m embarrassed to admit, squealed like a girl — but hey, wouldn’t you give anything to get that excited about something!

Well, he had a little over a week until the ring fitting, which in all honesty was probably just about a week too long.  Everyone that just happened to run into Zack, messaged him on Facebook, called him, stopped by the house, or even accidentally made eye contact with him on the street, were made privy to every last detail of his upcoming class ring sizing. It got so bad that at one point his Dad, Dan, was seriously considering forbidding him from talking about it. Every morning he woke up and told us how many days until the ring sizing, and every night he told us how many days it would be the next day. You’d have thought there was nothing else on this planet that mattered…

And actually, that’s exactly it!

For Zack, there was absolutely nothing more important, nothing more exciting, nothing more, than being sized for his Lutz class ring. Even when in a bout of frustration (not my best parenting moment) I pointed out that by him being sized for his class ring meant it was his last year at Lutz (yes I am totally ashamed, but honestly it was in self-defense) — he didn’t care. The excitement was that great. All he could talk about was which finger he was going to wear it on, which hand, how to hold his hand for pictures at the upcoming ring ceremony, and how the blue stone would match his blue eyes. Sounds all completely innocent and cute when I type it here, but honestly my skin is still crawling when I think about how long we had to listen to this because it wasn’t just from the time we received the letter, it was from back several years ago when he realized what the ring ceremony was all about. It just got worse, more animated, more amplified, more, more, more as the day got closer.

Still, I pulled myself together and being one of “THOSE” parents, swallowed any ounce of pride I might have had and sent an email to his teacher looking beyond my own relief that FINALLY this ring-sizing thing would be over, and thinking about how I was going to help Zack through the upcoming transition out of Lutz:

Hi Patti,

I was wondering if I could ask a small favor. Yes, I’m going to be THAT parent. Zack has been going on and on about his ring ceremony and ever since we received the letter telling us that tomorrow is the sizing…well, he just won’t shut up about it. I was thinking that at the end of the year I’d like to put together a little something for him with pictures of his completion year at Lutz. I’m sure he’ll take a bunch of photos at the completer’s trips (I hope) but as far as tomorrow and the ring sizing, would it be possible for you or someone to snap a picture with his Ipod touch. It might not seem like a big thing, the ring sizing, but to Zack this means an unbelievable lot. I thought about asking if I could come to take a picture, but being THAT parent or just asking someone to do it, well I figured I’d ask someone to take it first.

What we don’t do for our kids!

This is Zack’s second year with Patti as his teacher and she has graciously put up with me and once again came through. Although she wasn’t there, she had Paula snap a few pictures of Zack. I’m not even sure if the bus came to a complete stop before Zack was out of his seat, flying up the driveway with his Ipod touch proudly displaying his new photos.

Gotta love that second picture where Zack’s got that “We-just-struck-up-a-deal-and-I-got-the-better-end-of-it” smile. Or would that be a “cat-that-swallowed-the canary” smirk?

The first milestone in this final year came to an end on a happy note. This lasting remembrance provided by the school continues to be a source of great anticipation and excitement for Zack. Every day when he comes home it’s hit or miss as to whether Zack’s going to be happy or sad. What I can count on, however, is knowing when he does have an emotional moment, when the reality of how short his time left at Lutz really is hits him, I can remind him about his ring and all the wonderful memories it will remind him of for the rest of his life and it helps to lighten the moment and brighten his spirits.

So, no, this isn’t just a ring…this is another destination along One Completer’s Journey.

Thanks for reading~

Zack’s Mom (Lisa D)