Glinda says goodbye to Oz and her elementary school days

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Indulge me as I take a one-post break from sports and talking about other kids to talk about my own.

Today is a bittersweet day in the Groller household.

Today is the final day of elementary school for my youngest daughter, 11-year-old Aimee.

It's exciting because, hey, it's the start of summer vacation and it's onward to the next phase of her life -- middle school.

It's also somewhat sad because after six years, she's leaving Lincoln Elementary School in the East Penn School District, which has been an absolutely wonderful place for her to learn and grow.

I thought I was done with elementary schools 16 years ago when my oldest daughter, Emily, now 28 and working as a nurse at St. Luke's Allentown, finished up sixth grade. My son, Chris, was done with it even earlier. He is now 30 and working in the Allentown Fire Department.

Life offers many surprises and here we were again these past six years, going to parent-teacher conferences, conducting candy sales, attending Halloween parades, and doing all of the things that you do in elementary school. Sometimes I felt awkward like some of the much younger parents might have thought I was actually Aimee's grandfather, not her father. After all, I am, indeed, a grandfather as well.

But hey we got through it all.

It all culminated last week when Aimee performed in the Lincoln school play "The Wizard of Oz." She had the role of Glinda, the good witch, and got to sing and act in several scenes

The entire production, which required months of rehearsals, was amazing under the direction of Miss Hazel, and all the kids were excellent in their roles, especially Dorothy as played by Gianna Albanese, the Tin Man played by Nicholas Blose, the Scarecrow played by Cameron Hoffman, the Lion played by Brendan Ward and the Wicked Witch played by Sarah Rabenold.

And, allowing me a smidge of bias, Aimee was a very good Glinda.