She Walks to the Beat of Her Own Drummer

Yesterday, my 12-year-old granddaughter, Haley, graduated from the sixth grade, and she did it her way. Like her father before her, she walks to the beat of her own drummer, and I admire and appreciate how difficult that can be no matter your age or size…Haley is now 5 feet 8 inches tall.

All the sixth graders were invited to dress up, i.e., the boys in slacks and shirts or suits and the girls in dresses. Haley went through a girlie-girlie phase some time ago, a phase I quite enjoyed and appreciated. Having raised two sons, it was great fun to shop for dresses and shoes in pinks and purples. Just a couple of years ago, I can remember her pleading and begging me to buy her these six-inch blue heels that would match her dress perfectly (Nana didn’t succumb and purchase those shoes).

Now, the very idea of having to wear a dress is anathema as far as Haley is concerned, and her favorite shoes are high-tops. Her color of choice is black, and she loves to wear what she calls beanies (I knew them as stocking caps) which stay on her head as if glued in place. So, I knew not to look for my girl in a dress and heels. (Some girls wore strapless dresses…at 8:00 am, what could their mothers have been thinking?) Haley wore yellow high-tops, black jeans, a black blouse instead of a t-shirt, and her dark brown leather coat. Her one concession besides the blouse was to not wear a beanie.

At the end of the program, the principal announced the sixth graders would dance their way out of the gym. And, they did…some danced and twirled, moon walked, ran, tripped, fell, gave each other piggy back rides and some even just walked. I kept waiting for Haley to dance down the aisle, but she seemed to be at the back of the pack. Finally, there she was, the last sixth grader to leave. She walked forward, put down the skateboard she'd been holding at her side, hopped on and skateboarded down the aisle and out of the gym. I was surprised, amazed and very proud of her.

At the reception for the sixth graders and their parents/grandparents, I was talking to her teacher when she came up and informed him she would be taking honors humanities (whatever that is) next year. He said something to the effect that he’d told her she should sign up for that class. She responded that she hadn’t, but they’d put her in there anyway, and he said it had to be because her grades were so good. I already knew she had signed up for honors math, so this was another indication Haley is far smarter going into the seventh grade than I (or her father) ever was.

I look forward to watching Haley evolve as time goes by. At some point, I’m sure her personal drummer will tap out a new tune and she’ll want to go shopping with Nana for a dress for some special occasion. I look forward to sharing that experience with her; and who knows, perhaps Nana will agree to stilettos when that time comes.