In DD’s yearbook the kids get to pick their own quote for their part and parents can buy an ad in the back. Her ad will say something short along the lines of “congratulations and good luck” and have Numbers 6:24-26 (NRSV):
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
@waiting2exhale,
In yearbooks, Parent pages are used like “ads” To generate revenue to offset the cost of yearbooks. Usually for parents of seniors only. At our kids’ HS, parent could purchase 1/4, 1/2 or full page and put whatever they wanted…quotes, photos, heartfelt messages, celebratory congratulations etc. Parents are usually not forced to buy an ad
I picked something from Dr. Who because my daughter has been a huge fan for years. She loved it, and given its recent rise in popularity, her friends told her we (parents) were cool. Ha ha, Not!
Nice to meet you @waiting2exhale. I already have the perfect holiday card picked out for this season.
Sometimes it’s nice to use words from a meaningful song or prayer that reflects what you want to convey. I have seen where the seniors write their quote that reflects themselves best. Or a principle or motivational quote that they believe in. Best would be to write from your heart what you truly feel. Something that reflects on what meaning the child has brought to the parents lives and your blessing for their future.
I have to say I was the crappy parent that didn’t buy an Ad…
MG, me too, and I do not feel bad about it. The kiddos were not into sappy or inspirational stuff, “Cheese belongs on a pizza…” But I always donated money to the PTSA when the hat was passed!
I’ve made my own cards since I was a kid. I’m not that artistic, but I prefer writing my own sentiments. I don’t think we have parent ads in the yearbooks at D’s school. If they did, I’d write something along the lines of what raclut wrote. If I had enough space, though, I’d include the lyrics for the entire song “Forever Young”-the Bob Dylan version. If not, though, I’d just put, “I hope you dance,” from the song, because it means so much more than that, and D does, actually dance as well.
The seniors DO get to put their own quotes in, and D has one all picked out about the importance of education.
“Lighten up while you still can, don’t even try to understand, just find a place to make your stand and take it easy.”
“Live long and prosper.”
“True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country”–Kurt Vonnegut
@raclut: I used to make my own cards and wrapping paper, years and years ago. I made the wrapping paper out of a frugality , and sense of avoiding ‘the machine,’ to be honest. Writing my own sentiments in cards came easily and was much more preferable to the saccharine, meandering, off-kilter Blue Mountain Arts cards that always caught my eye in my teens, but never captured whatever moos I was looking for.
Even with a lifetime spent fingering cards and loving the paper types they could be made of, I find myself in this thread wondering what I would pen for this child, a daughter, headed off into the world.
Something from Anne of Green Gables, maybe?:
“The good stars met in your horoscope.
Made you of spirit and fire and dew.”
Hmmm.
“Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now.”
Mattie Stepanek
Aah, Mattie. Truly inspirational.
We went with AA.Milne, Winnie the Pooh “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”
Something from The Giving Tree is always useful. With illustration. If ok with copyright law.
The RFK “ripples” quote.
Some of my favorites that may be relevant:
We lose ourselves in the things we love. We find ourselves there, too.
A ship at harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are for
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” -Albert Einstein
“Promise me you’ll always remember: you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” -AA Milne
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene
@MichiganGeorgia and @BunsenBurner my parents were also the “terrible” parents who didn’t do the ad. Never quite understood the point of it- especially with 6k students, those things just get buried. Instead, they gave me a very heartfelt card which I still have to this day. It doesn’t have any famous quotes… instead it has words from THEIR heart, not someone else’s. For me, that means so much more.
Carry on.
Maybe the parents want to share the thoughts from their hearts privately. The quote is for the public yearbook. One need not preclude the other.