By Lanell Downs Smith

Students and their families are preparing for the new school year. For some, August is a time of mixed emotions, when parents breathe a sigh of relief and children greet new teachers and classrooms with wonder, excitement and even a touch of dread for the challenges ahead.

First-time parents send their little ones to preschool or kindergarten programs with all the bluster and uncertainty of a new bride, wondering what opportunities they will navigate as their child toddles off to make friends, learn letters and numbers and have adventures on their own.

As a grandmother, I am speechless wondering how this day came so soon. Just yesterday, little Caroline was born two months early and just over three pounds. It seems that not too long ago, she first slept through the night, crawled, walked, talked and then cried, “Nana!” as she ran into my waiting arms.

It simply can not be time for her to venture out into the wide world of academia, where she will have brave new adventures and be forever impacted by someone outside her nuclear family.

It was not that long ago that I watched her mother, my firstborn, cry as I left her at preschool and then beg to stay longer at the end of the day. I cried that day too, wondering if she was ready and how she would fare only to discover she met the first of many obstacles, and surmounted it just as I knew she always would.

My “nana’s” heart is not ready to watch Caroline begin the journey towards adulthood. Part of me wants her to remain small just a little bit longer and yet I can not wait to witness how she changes the world around her.

It seems to me our communities may need support groups for grandparents, gatherings where we learn to look forward, instead of back. I wonder if we could add that course to the community schools’ curriculum.