Backpack, be gone!

I threw away my son's backpack today. It was a nice backpack at one point in time, ready to carry the trappings of higher learning that all 8th graders need, as well as special pockets for Mp3 players, cell phones, and water bottles. However, when it finally hit the bottom of the trash can with a resounding whimper, it bore no resemblance to anything that had been loved. The shoulder harnesses had been brutally ripped from the body, merely hanging on by the proverbial thread, holes had been unceremoniously cut/gouged from the sides, taking on the anger/boredom from the 14 year old owner. Creative designs from pens and Sharpies were the only indication that it had at one point been something other than a simple receptacle, something that was valued beyond its practical use.

However, as time went on and the lessons became tediously difficult, the bag took on a new role. It was weapon, harness, pillow, stepstool, lunchbox, and secret-storer. It took everything it had to survive that last year of middle school, much like it had taken everything my son had in him to get to that last bell.

It's done. He's done, and now they can both rest easy with the knowledge that middle school is a thing of the past. High school will bring new challenges, but the new attitude will be accompanied by a brand new backpack.