The Chair

On my way to buy my morning coffee, I passed the local high school and saw a large wingback chair sitting regally on the fifty-yard line of the football (and Lacrosse and soccer) field. Having had a senior graduate the night before, I’d heard that many graduates went to the school after the graduation party to watch the sunrise. Obviously, the chair had been found and placed there to add significance to the moment.

Seeing the chair took me back to when I graduated from high school, and the all-nighter we pulled, but I soon thought about the most recent graduates and what they must have been thinking when they took turns sitting in the chair. Did they think about moments on this or other fields, the dramatic come from behind wins, successful catches or shots? Did they look over at the building and think of classes that stirred them, or ones they were relieved to survive? Did they think of teachers who made a difference, and ones who drove them crazy? Did they recall the moments when they met some of the friends surrounding them as they sat in the chair?

When no one was looking, did they think of the mistakes they made? Did they recall the failing grades, the painful breakups, the missed catches, and times they fell in front of the on-lookers?

From such a chair, it can all be seen, but it is not a chair you want to sit in for too long. Looking back and remembering the good and bad, as well as the stuff in between, is important, particularly before a new chapter begins. It is meaningful to sit and think about all that has happened, all the people we’ve known, and times we’ve shared, but eventually we need to get up from the chair. As the sun rises, we, too, need to stand, stretch our legs and walk into the new day.

It’s true for this year’s graduates, just as it is true for those of us who graduated long ago.