Endings and new beginnings

This morning, I woke up still feeling very tired. Last night, after returning home, I looked at the photos I made of the movie premiere and realized in horror my camera settings had been wrong for a long time. The whole event had been perfect and there I was creating one blurry photo after another. In retrospect (I'm typing this on Sunday, two days after I found out I messed up), it isn't that bad and there are still quite a few good shots. Combined with the photos other people have made, there will be enough pictures to bring back these memories for the children. I did correct my settings at some point and after that, the photos are good. Fortunately, this also includes the photos in school where not many other people were taking pictures.

However, on Friday after my initial look at the photos I felt terrible and together with time spent the last couple of days and sleep lost, it was a bit of an empty feeling. That ended when it was time to go to school yet again, this time to see the children dancing on the school yard for one last time.

After that, the other school children and the parents of Ellis' class formed a double row to say goodbye to the children. Martine is still recovering from her broken leg, so Nienke went with me in her place. The very last school day made many children cry and this time Ellis was no exception. When she spotted Nienke in the row, Ellis just fell into her arms and then both were crying. What a beautiful moment... 

A time of endings, but also of new beginnings. Summer vacation has started and Ellis will start on a new school after that. And in our street, work on the houses and the road has started. An ending for our old house, but the beginning of building something new and leaving the whole earthquake-related misery behind. The primary school will actually move to a new location, so when the new house is ready, the school will be gone. Time to move on and start a new chapter. Or maybe a new book, even...