Past President

I am, as the saying goes, a little verklempt.  More than a little, actually.  

Tonight was my last PTSA meeting as president.  

I held the position for two years, having been reelected for the second year because no one else stepped up to fill the position, which is more or less how I became the maitre d’ for my eighth-grade French class’ French Restaurant project: I fit the tux.

I wrote about some of the events that filled the end of last school year, and no, I am not linking to those posts because the events themselves deserve to be left in the past.  If you have a few minutes to dig, feel free to go back and read about them, but I – along with the faculty and staff, students and parents of Point Loma High School – have moved past them.

Of course, we may have moved past those difficult days, but there’s no denying that they’ve colored most of the days this school year.  I can’t imagine how it’s been for those who work every day on campus; for my part, I’ve felt a little gun shy all year.  

Over the last few days, I’ve felt a growing sense of relief, that my days of decision-making were nearing an end.  It wasn’t until this evening, on my way to the meeting, that I began to feel a little sad.  Another phase of my life is done, a part of my daughter’s life is nearing an end, and we’re both gearing up for what’s next.

I am a little sad.  Sure, the last few weeks of school were tough last year, but overall, I’ve had fun.  

So, tonight, I ran as loose a meeting as I ever have.  I always felt that Roberts’ Rules of Order were a bit too stentorian for a polite group of twenty-five parents who love their kids and give each other credit for having at least that in common.  

We settled the money issues, talked about some ideas for next year, and all of it with a sort of easy camaraderie.  I’ve been a part of this group for just short of three years; many of these people have known each other their entire lives.  That’s reason enough to consider it a great honor to be asked to serve as their president.

It is astonishing how many of the people in the PTSA give the full measure of their devotion to our kids.  All our kids.  Not just the twenty-five or thirty kids directly represented in the room, but all of the more than two thousand kids here.  

I am humbled by their hard work, and I can say with all honesty that I never felt quite adequate to the task they asked of me.  

At the end of the meeting this evening, I stood up and admitted that I felt honored to be asked, two years ago, and that I had no idea at the time what that honor really meant.  Now, I said, now I know.  To have had the opportunity to work with such selfless people, to share a little in the satisfaction of their hard work, that has turned out to be the real honor.  The honor doesn’t come from anything I might have done to deserve the post, but from the extraordinary people I’ve worked with.

By way of thanks, I presented each of the members of my executive board with a bottle of Pinot Noir. Nothing extravagant, just a good little wine that they could share with their spouses, all of whom have worked just as hard, but without any recognition at all.

I am so very grateful.