Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

     Over the next few weeks many of us will be venturing out and headed to graduations and the parties that come with them. Graduating from high school is a long-standing rite of passage that marks the end of a chapter in a young persons life and the beginning of a next one. For all of you graduates out there this column is for you.

     We have watched you all grow up since the day we stood with teary eyes watching you climb the stairs onto the yellow school bus your first day of kindergarten. We have endured years of parent teacher conferences, finishing homework at the last minute and countless music concerts and sporting events.

     Proudly we hung your artwork on our refrigerator doors and saved boxes of your graded papers as we tacked ribbons and medals on the corkboards in your room. Every year we hang the ornaments made of Styrofoam and macaroni on the Christmas tree and made sure you had enough money in your lunch account for milk and even the occasional breakfast.

     We have shuttled you to practices and games and fed an army of your friends while becoming acquainted with people in our community that we wouldn’t talk to you in the grocery store otherwise. We have cheered you on as you tried your best and have been there to comfort you when you’ve had your heart broken. We’ve struggled through as you learned to drive, learned to stand in lines and wait your turn, and as you counted the days until you received that signed piece of paper with your name on it.

     We have stayed up nights waiting for you to finish assignments, get home from dates or while you picked out the outfit you would wear to the dance. We packed you lunches for field trips, made sure you had new jeans and shoes every August and have spent the last twelve years picking glitter out of the living room rug. We’ve watched as you spread your wings, became your own person and tried to let you roam, yet sheltered you as best we could.

    The world you will venture out into isn’t the same one we grew up in. We were your age once, with the same hopes and dreams and fears as you. But the world we grew up in didn’t deal in security checkpoints at airports. It wasn’t a place we ever thought of a war that didn’t involve the Soviet Union. Our world wasn’t as connected. The only cell phones were ones in a bag that sat on the floor of the car. Texting meant setting print in a publishing house and looking up information meant a trip to the library to find a set of encyclopedias.

     As you journey away from here we hope you remember not only the lessons you learned in the classroom, but the ones we tried to teach you as well. Be kind to others, use your manners, be honest and true to yourself and remember that not everyone will always have your best interest at heart. Dream big and work hard to catch that dream, and never let anyone tell you that you aren’t good enough, or smart enough, or wealthy enough to succeed.

     As you stand on that platform in front of your friends and extended family, understand that each of us believes in you and wants you to achieve what only you can. Whether it be off to work, or off to college only you can determine the path you will go down. We hope that path leads you to success, but if you fail, remember that we will all be here when you need to be reminded of where you came from.

     So when you look back out at us and you see your mom with tears streaming down her face, know that her sadness and pride in your accomplishment are mixed in with tears of relief that you made it this far. Be sure to thank her for the lines of worry that have grown permanent in her face over you and for loving you as much as she has all these years.

     Good luck, “Live long and prosper” and remember to check the oil.

See you next week…Remember, we’re all in this together.