This morning Deb stayed home to complete a long-standing ritual. Today is the first day of school in Fairfield and our son begins his final year in the system. Deb’s working at home so she can take the annual portrait in front of the mailbox, as discussed in the last post.Robbie is entering his senior year, the first senior class at Fairfield Ludlow High School. He’s been ambivalent about this all summer, not wanting to acknowledge his senior status while also looking ahead towards college.He’s got a good schedule, teachers he either knows or has heard good things about so is looking forward to the experience. He’ll shuttle over to Bridgeport starting tomorrow for his final year in the Aquaculture program. While Fairfield has been good for him, it’s been the smaller class sizes and subject matter at the magnet school that finally helped show him a path, towards becoming a high school science teacher.As he begins this final day, he and his peers will be establishing rituals and routines that will help make FLHS unique and he’s looking forward to that since he enjoys being a leader in such things.As he begins this final day, it’s also the end of a series of rituals for us. It’s our final year within the public school system, and we’ve already completed the elementary and middle school steps. In a mere two weeks, we attend the final Back to School Night and that will be just another milestone as we trek towards his graduation in late June.We’ve had time to adjust to this given Kate’s experiences and her success at college. Still, each passing milestone also nudges us closer to the “empty nest” something we’re both looking forward to and somewhat dreading. Our children have done a lot of good things and some boneheaded things but they’re basically good kids and I take pride in them and their accomplishments.I suspect I’ll be getting wistful as these milestones come and go, which will probably drive Deb nuts.