End of an era

Last week saw the end of one chapter in one of our boys' lives.  Daniel started at Hebron School in India in August 2006.  That was a huge change for all of us as for the first time one of our boys was away from home - and quite far away at that.  We looked forward to the weekly handwritten letters (changed to e-mails as he got older).  Friday nights were phoning Hebron nights - and we had the inevitable frustrations at times of trying to get through to a dorm in a school way at the top of a mountain in south India.  Booking air tickets became a kind of hobby as there were two visits a year by parents for half-term and then two returns back to Japan for the summer and winter holidays.  For Daniel, he has been with many of the same group for these six years - playing many sports together, having fun together, going through tough times together, at school together, living in the dorm together.  And now it is over.  But as one chapter begins, another opens.  Now is just the interlude between school and university and for us that opens up a whole new world of form-filling and applications.  Born in Scotland, primary school in Japan, secondary school in India rubbing shoulders with many different cultures and nationalities.  Now it is back to Scotland and Daniel is following in his parents' footsteps by studying Law.  As we look back on the Hebron years, we are very grateful for this school, for the teachers, the dorm parents and the chance to meet and interact with many who are working in quite diverse situations in a number of different countries.  And we trust that Daniel will look back and be thankful (as he is) for the many experiences of his Hebron days.  Our third boy Calum is already getting excited about going - but that is a story for another day later in the year.