A few weeks ago I had the
opportunity to attend the high school graduation of my great niece. I was so very proud of her! Graduations are a time of excitement,
anticipation and encouragement mixed with a healthy dose of fear. What lies ahead? What will become of my friends? What events will change my life? The unknown is always mysterious.
These are good times, and as I
reflected on this class of 2016 my thoughts raced back to my own daughter’s
graduations and that of myself and even my siblings and parents. My…how things
change from what we thought we would experience. It’s just a guess, but I suppose most of us
do not follow a given path, outlined as we would have imagined at the age of
18.
My Mom and Dad both graduated
high school after World War II. Dad was
from a small town in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas called Witts Springs. These were country folks…backwoods…poor. City folks would consider them hillbillies
with their simple ways, southern drawls, lack of indoor plumbing, toilets or,
in some cases, still washing their clothes on a washboard down at the crick. As I recall, Dad graduated high school with
about 8 or 10 other students, and he was at the top of the class!
Mom was raised on an island in
the middle of the Mississippi River south of St. Louis called Kaskaskia,
IL. It’s a farming community although
many residents took odd jobs or worked for Mississippi Lime Company across the
bridge in Missouri. They were also
considered mostly poor but, in my estimation, a bit more refined than my
Arkansas relatives. Mom went to school
on the island in the early years and then in nearby St. Genevieve, MO where she
graduated as valedictorian of her class.
I graduated high school in
Jonesboro, AR…wife Debbie in Farmington, MO.
Due to my 30-year Air Force career, my daughters ended up in various
schools far from our roots; my eldest graduating in Niceville, FL and our three
youngest from Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal.
But back to my original thoughts
on graduation.
As I scanned the most recent
class of 297 students I couldn’t help but think about their futures. Some were destined for Ivy League colleges,
some for engineering schools, and others for regional or community
colleges. A couple were heading to
military academies while others most likely would attend trade schools or never
attend college at all.
There were notable differences in
ethnicity….Anglo, African-American, Latino, Pakistani, Indian, Native American,
Polynesian, Chinese, etc. Yet each of
them and their families had similar dreams and hopes for their sons and
daughters.
Some will be very successful in
business; a few will become wealthy beyond our imagination and perhaps even famous. There will be doctors, lawyers, politicians,
teachers, engineers, business owners and corporate executives. Some will become full time Mom’s and
homemakers, entrepreneurs, or become experts in their chosen fields of
automotive or computer trades. Some may
become military leaders (yay!) or politicians (shudder). The sky is literally the limit!
But there’s the downside to life
beyond graduation too. Some will
ultimately become drug addicts and prison inmates. Others may live a life based on government
assistance. Still others will become
homeless. Some will be victims of
terrible crime, and a few will likely be dead before reaching the age of 30.
Life is precious. Life is unpredictable. Life is…well…life.
So, hold on to your dreams…work
hard…play hard…but try to be safe. Find love,
laughter, and in all things I pray that you find God along the way. For when HE is the central core of your goals
and dreams, then I’ve discovered most everything else will fall into place, and there is very little to worry about.
Cheers!
Papa Chief
