Was Day ONE fun?

I grew up in a time where family dinner was a ritual.  Nothing pleased my father more than the beginning of the school year, and quizzing me, and my younger sister, in rhyme.

"Was day one FUN?"

It's been nearly two decades since my father passed away, and I still hear his voice. 

Especially during the first week of school.

Today was no exception. 

And while today was ANOTHER first day, it was different.  Amazingly different.  This school year has been bathed in positivity and encouragement.  The message is clear and simple, and resonates from many corners, creating a ripple of enthusiasm and peace that I didn't know I needed, until it happened.  It's deliberate.  It's intentional.  And, for me, it's working.

A year ago, I cried every single day for two weeks.  It was an emotional start, and I struggled to figure out how to make things better. I can't even really explain why last year was so tough -- and I've stopped trying to figure it out.  This year, I'll be as attached to this senior class as I was to last year's.  I'll threaten them to stop telling me countdown events like "This is my last..... first day, math class, concert.... fill in the blank.  Because every new beginning is another new beginning's end.  I'll laugh with them, and do my best to teach them to raise the bar on their lives, to challenge themselves, and take risks.  I'll force them to collaborate, even when they don't think that they can ever function in a collaborative group.  We'll think critically and creatively, and we'll connect things, and people, in ways never considered before.

Today, the last words at our all-school assembly were,

"Don't count the days, make the days count."  

I didn't cry.  I smiled.  Because I can, we will, and that's the way Donegal is rolling this year.  (If you want to join in the fun, follow us on Facebook to get a glimpse of each day!)  The day flew by, with an ever-growing To-Do list.  Tomorrow, the voice will ask, "How was day TWOS, Suz?"  My dad was less about grammar rules and more about the joke and the rhyme during the first week of school.  Sometimes the rules don't matter, when you're busy making the day count.

Oh, and, "Yes, Dad.  Day One was fun!"