subject: Time Capsule Or Embarrassment? The Senior Yearbook Looms. [print this page] Senior year is an exciting timeSenior year is an exciting time. There's senior skip day, prom, graduation, and pranks. So many fun things fill my daughters itinerary right now. But the one unexpected, the one that seems to be 'the biggest' deal, is planning how her yearbooks going to remember her. Photos, bios, and Blurbs. It all seems to be huge!
Starting in middle school, the kids have always gotten a yearbook. They are pretty much the same. A few miscellaneous photo's and the group pictures. I was a bit surprised to see so much stock put in this years book.
There was never talk of professional photography, or wardrobe changes before. And to make it even worse, there are dozens of gal pals calling her all hours, in peril over the same issues.
So I started to think about it and wondered....What is it about the senior yearbook that was so different? What catapulted this particular one from time capsule, to possible embarrassment? It was like all these girls were paranoid. They acted as if this was the only one that counted.
I grabbed some of my daughter's old yearbooks out from a box in her closet. Her face looked so youthful. Younger, just a year ago. It surprised me to see how she'd grown in such a short time. Thinking it may be funny for her to flip through my old one, I dug it out of the attic. She looked pleased as she beamed at my senior photo, then paused and gave me a sideways look when she read my bio. It became crystal clear what her hesitance was.
When you get to be my age, you'll get over your pride. I said with a smile. And told her that when I was 17, I was insecure too. But looking back as an adult, I had no regrets about showing who I was. I had changed since then, and it was refreshing to be able to reflect.
Her reaction was to question whether my feeling would have changed if my parent's had shown it to new friends, pulling it out when I came home to visit from college. I assured her I would not do something like that to her, and questioned whether that was her fear. I know if my parent's would have done that I would have been mortified. But that didn't mean I wasn't still happy to have it.
It was good to have a piece of 'who I used to be' laying around. Because though yearbooks can be humiliating, they really are a time capsule. Even though when we're living it, it may seem stressful, the day will come when we're happy it's there. Like an old friend. A little reminder of what was. Laughing I tucked the books away. She smiled, understanding that when she was older, she too would be happy to have it. A step back to simpler times, to the girl she used to be.
