The End of the Trail

The legacy of the Wickes Warriors is coming to an end.

After months of debate, confusion, anger, and much small-town drama, the desision to merge our school with another was decided last night. And so we begin the task of laying to rest our beloved warrior mascot and becoming...something new.

Change is always hard. Personally, I hate change. If it were merely stepping into something new, that would be one thing, but change always means leaving something behind. Some things are easily left behind, but this, my dear ones, is not going to be easy. You see, we love our school! It is the very heartbeat of this fine community, and we are finding ourselves wondering how we will survive without it.

Ironically, today is homecoming. Taylor spent hours last night at the kitchen table painting posters that exclaimed her junior class's devotion to their school. She awakened early this morning (and she is not a morning person) to go to a friends house to paint their faces to show their school spirit. They are, after all, warriors. There will be a pep-rally today that I can only imagine will be bitter-sweet for those valiant warrior students. My son, the captain of the cheer squad, will lift his megaphone and shout the call to battle, but his infantries fate has already been decided for them.

For those of you who were on the front lines of the battle to save our school, those whose hearts bleed blue and white, I commend your efforts. To those who helped to seal our fate, those who sold us up the river while our heads were turned, I say be thankful. Be thankful that not only are we a community of fierce warriors, but of compassionate ones. These next months are sure to reveal the true heart of this community and I am expecting nothing less than what I know it to be. I've seen these beautiful people make miracles happen and be a beacon of light in the darkest of hours.

It is tragic that the price must be paid by the children. They don't understand all the reasons why, they just know that they are loosing their school. For most of them, it is the only school they've ever known, it is their home. A day is coming when they will call somewhere else home, a day when they will cheer on a new team mascot, a day when they will walk the halls of a different institution. I pray for the future generations and that they will find solace and comfort among their new peers and that they may be as proud to be in their new home as they were to be in the old.

The thing about the end of the trail is this. We must be able to look back on our journey and know in our hearts that it was good. The trail may have been difficult at times, but boy did we ever have fun! I believe that our journey has been cut short. I feel that because of poor management we are paying a price very dear, but we must look forward to the future and treasure our memories.

Those whose hearts were touched by the spirit of the warrior will forever more be blessed because of it, and in that light, the warrior lives on.