As the photographer who sent us loads of shots of elementary school graduations and moving up ceremonies this week said, it's hard not to find oneself crying this time of year. Maybe it's the mix of daytime warmth and good sleeping weather that gets us in the mood. Then again, who CAN resist kindergarteners and pre-schoolers innocently singing happy songs, unable to mitigate the mixed emotions involved in such rites of passage.

Last week I attended my son's own end-of-year party, filled with dancing, slide shows, and a communal sense of achievement and celebration lent an added bit of daddy pride given that the whole "making memories" theme of the event came out of a statement my boy made. At one point, just after a too-long speech by one teacher, he said he was ready to leave and started to protest when I said we shouldn't yet. Afterwards he admitted having come close to tears seeing all the photos of everyone having fun all year, heard the songs and witnessed the dancing.

What had he said regarding memories? It occurred during a ball game, with his team losing, and his response that "It doesn't matter who wins and loses. What matters most is that we're all making memories."

Think about all this at the high school graduations this weekend: that the value of our kids' education isn't measured by the jobs they get, or lose, or where they move on to, or don 't. It's not about the colleges they attend, or life choices made. It's all about something more intangible, but also more human in the long run...

Memories are key to life. They're about cherishing moments in all our days, about constantly finding new things to treasure and wish to repeat. Or expand upon. They're not just matters we wish to return to, as in the vague "good old days" that come up in political campaigns, or which trap some of our elders in cycles of sadness and regret. They're a basis for knowledge, a means of gauging deeper feelings, or of learning how to take risks and move forward even when we use hidden fears to believe we're comfortable enough to stick in one place.

Sure, the very act of memory was once a key to success in our worlds. One progressed through life based on a fine knowledge of facts, cultural lynchpins, great works of art, esoterica. In this business of journalism, one's observations were leant gravitas by the comparisons you could draw into an account... to history, literature, what was happening similarly elsewhere.

Much of that world has disappeared, for the moment, with people's ability to easily reference things on hand-held devices almost anywhere. No longer do we value intellectualism, or the erudite speaker these days. Remember that old concept of low, middle and high brow? Or our great senator, Moynihan, who taught and wrote as much as he legislated? More valuable, these days, are one's quickness with info, not its depth, as well as the tone of one's retorts. Or, for that matter, the aggressiveness of one's entire demeanor.

Is this good? Maybe, instead of typing that question into a phone, we should ask it while hiking somewhere in nature. Remember the ideal of having meandering thoughts and then organizing them, over time, into cohesion? Try that...

Ah, I've gone and meandered into the realm of graduation speechifying, it seems. Which means I should note a few other things pertinent to this week's moves from one stage of life to another.

If a younger student, don't think it'll get easier. Or worry about stuff getting harder. Rejoice that you'll become more familiar with change, see some new faces, yet still be able to hold on to whatever one wants to retain in your memory, or as friendships that linger.

If older, and leaving high school, be happy whichever way one's moving. Think of that old game of Life board and recall that there are always second chances. But also that the values in things are often hidden: college may end up being about the friendships made, and not a career path that dead-ends a decade from now as technology or something else changes. And sticking at home can produce levels of wisdom, and happiness, as well as expansion, one can never predict now.

Congrats, all grads. And to all... keep learning!