Dropping your kids off at their first of school can be filled with a lot of different emotions, especially during a pandemic.
West Michigan mom, Denise Dood, experienced those emotions dropping off her youngest at his last first day of elementary school this year.
"Jackson's my last one, so it's kind of bittersweet," said Dood.
Over the last 20 years, Dood has made it a tradition to drop all of five kids off at their first day of school at West Elementary, Grandville Public Schools.
"I'm really gonna miss it. As I was pulling up here, you know, I really kind of got choked up and didn't want him to see me crying because I knew it was a scary thing for, you know, him to come here," said Dood. "It's something special to me and something I'm definitely going to miss."
Dood says for the past two decades she has made unforgettable memories. Some of her favorites are as simple as getting them ready, conversations in the car and and sending them off on their first days.
However sending off her youngest Jackson this year didn't quite feel the same with a pandemic going on.
"Even Jackson, some of his friends chose to do the online learning," said Dood. "I think he was a little worried about, you know, not having friends here but now I think he's excited to get back in the classroom and get back to some normalcy."
However seeing the kids and teachers wearing masks and hearing from the school about their COVID-19 plan did keep Dood optimistic.
"They always say West is the best and you know, I truly believe that," said Dood.
