*School of the Woods Class of ‘22 and their prom dates.*

WELL.

The last month has been a whirlwind in these parts, but as of yesterday, Alex is now officially a graduate of Woods High School, the secondary school part of School of the Woods, a pre-K-through-12th-grade Montessori program here in Houston! Alex attended this school since the second grade, and Marcus and I often remark that enrolling her in this school is the best parenting decision we ever made. Her class had only 21 students, and every year they grew more tight-knit, taking care of each other as I’ve never seen a group of kids do. And the academics are rigorous: for example, as a final project, each student worked on a year-long thesis on a topic of their choosing, and then did an oral presentation. (Alex’s was entitled, “Posters for the People: How Graphic Design Impacts Activism and Social Justice,” which, as you can imagine, is a pretty great topic for an activist-minded person about to go off to graphic design school!)

The last few weeks were all about sports banquets and senior banquets, proms and commencements, and it’s all officially over. Here are some photo highlights.

Alex had a few friends over to get ready for prom. Canapés and sparkling cider flowed.

*These young women, yo. They’re going to change the word for the better, watch.*

*The fact that the Starbucks logo is bigger than the photo of Marcus and me is actually not that surprising.*

Alex processing up with her ASL teacher, Mr. Wilhite. A note about the flowers Alex is wearing: I've always loved the idea of a touchstone of culture being a part of graduation regalia, like the leis of Hawaii or the marigold garlands of India. I looked online for a tropical garland and chose this one, made of false frangipani (plumeria). Frangipani is native to the Caribbean, Mexico and South America, and I ordered it as a nod to her Caribbean, Mexican and Colombian roots. I didn't know if she would wear it, but I figured since she's planning on a pink dorm room, if she didn't wear it, at least she could use it as a decoration for her dorm room. I'm so moved that she wore it.

And now that all the fanfare is over, we’re settling in for some good rest and concentrated family time, to celebrate each other. Big changes are ahead for the three of us — and we’re all so excited about what’s to come.