Memories of Graduation Day

Why is it that graduation ceremonies are so tear-jerking?
At my son's graduation, I found myself crying so much I wondered why!

Some mothers were sobbing out loud, which made me join in, but
For me, it started the moment they announced, "Graduates entering!" and I just burst into tears.

I know it sounds like I was jumping the gun, but it's the truth.
People often talk about memories flashing before their eyes, and that's exactly what it was.

The entrance ceremony, where neither my son nor I knew a single soul,
Holding back tears until the very last second, without the courage to even look behind me,
You sat there all alone with a twisted face, your eyes darting around.
The days of refusing to go to school, when I cried and begged my husband for help.
The first classroom observation, where you looked 10cm taller than you did at home.
The joy I felt when you started singing the kindergarten song in the bath.
At the sports day entrance march, you moved your right hand and right foot at the same time,
Your raised hand went all the way up to the top of your head, and seeing you staring intensely at one spot,
I was already crying, thinking, "He's walking!" (tears). Well, of course you were walking, it was the entrance march.
Your clumsy hands brushing off your socks, covered in dust after falling during the relay race.
It must have hurt, right? You must have been embarrassed, sad, and wanted to cry, right?
I wanted to run out there and tell you that right then.
The moment you fell, my father immediately stopped taking pictures.
"I don't need photos of a moment like that! Just capture the good moments!"
That's what my father said later...
The recital, which I was so worried about because you had been absent for a whole week right before it.
You were dancing with all your might, and I couldn't help but think, "You're amazing!"
The thrill of the last day of your first year, when you brought home all your drawings from the year.

The summer of your middle year when you got injured and cut your forehead.
The many events I attended without fail, carrying your younger sister on my back.
The blue sky on the day of the sports day, which I missed because I had a fever from stress the night before.
How long that day felt.
The shock on the days when your lunch box came back completely full.
The gratitude I felt on the days it was empty.
The loneliness of the day you got so used to it that you stopped waving goodbye to me from the bus in the morning.
Your unsteady feet as you stepped off the bus, crying from motion sickness.
The way your eyes searched for me through the window just before the bus stopped at the pickup point every time, and the smile that followed.
The way you skipped on the mornings you knew I would be picking you up.
The hakama you wore for the recital, which made you look so dignified.

And the graduation ceremony, where your uniform sleeves had become three-quarter length, making you look so cool.

I couldn't take good photos that day because I'd start crying if I looked directly at your face, so I always looked away while pressing the shutter.
But I have hundreds of photos stored in my heart.
You were dazzling, [Son's Name]!

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