Memories will be made on Tuesday in Richmond, Va. It's the day my only granddaughter, Sophia, is entering kindergarten.

Everyone is excited but her; she's scared -- her with the type A personality of her aunt and grandma. Suddenly the new clothes and loads of school supplies don't seem so special. Even the reassurances of her cousin Jack, a veteran at age 8, aren't working.

As I sense her fear and hug her in my heart, my mind drifts back many years to her mother's and aunt's first days of kindergarten.

Her aunt was my only child then, and she was pumped up for this great experience -- until she got there, that is, and realized Mom wasn't attending kindergarten with her. All heck broke out then! She had a death grip on my leg, and as the teacher untangled her all I could hear was, "Don't leave me here, Mommy, please, please!"

I don't know who was crying the loudest, me or her.

It took a week but all turned out OK.

Flash forward eight years, to another neighborhood, another house, another school and another daughter. This one was very shy and quiet, like her dad. I could foresee more problems.

We trekked off to school only a half a block away. (By now, her sister was in eighth grade.) She spied the teacher and without a backwards glance, ran into school.

That night she announced in her little 5-year-old voice that she was going to school by herself from now on. No one was to follow behind, either, because she'd see them!

I let her go the next morning and then hurried to the second-floor window, where I could watch her all the way to the school yard. She did keep turning around to make sure she was alone. The quiet little soul had turned into the brave warrior!

Now which will Sophia be? Grandma will be waiting for the calls from Richmond all day. But I know, either way it goes, in a week it will all be OK.

JOHANNA SATARIANO, Brighton Heights

It was bittersweet -- the first day of a year of "lasts."

The summer went by quickly as we checked off the boxes, the same ones I have checked off twice before. Senior pictures, check; college visits, check; wisdom teeth extraction, check; and, finally, the first look at the daunting task ahead -- college applications, double check!

As my daughter posed in our foyer for her last first-day-of-school photo session, I thought back to her first day of kindergarten. So proud in her dress and new backpack, she was eager and excited for what was to come.

On this last first day (with not a single dress in her closet, let alone on her back) is she still excited or, perhaps, nervous about leaving her childhood behind and venturing forth into the unknown?

I know I am apprehensive as my day-to-day job of being a mom is entering its final stage. How do 20-plus years of child rearing go by in the blink of an eye?

The infant and toddler years seemed like an eternity, but then came school, sports, music and dance lessons, birthday parties, recitals, sleepovers, tournaments, dances, and then, graduations -- two down and one to go.

It is all a foggy recollection now, best remembered through photo albums and home videos. One of those photos is how I can best see her on the first day of kindergarten: denim jumper, pink socks and big blue backpack.

As for me, what will my next chapter be? I don't know yet, but I have a year to figure it out. In the meantime, I will cherish every "last" that comes my way and hope the days leading up to my "graduation" move at a snail's pace (but I know they won't).

Her parting words to me this morning as she ran out to meet her ride were "I'll miss you."

Kelley, you have no idea how much I will miss you.

Does anyone need a mom?

WENDY HARRINGTON, Franklin Park

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