Kindergarten Graduation

The picture is terribly fuzzy, I apologize. However, if it was sharp and clear I probably would not post it. I do not want any of these lovely people getting "cancelled." You do not need to see their faces to realize you can see their faces... and that is sort of my point.

Last night, the little cafeteria at our little elementary school was packed like sardines with family and friends of the kindergarten class. It was charming, ridiculous, and NORMAL. Not "new normal" - just normal. Lots of hugging, shaking hands, and cheering for the kids. It was absolutely glorious. These kids attended class all year. No masks, no plastic dividers, no social distancing. Hugs and high fives from teachers and staff. No suicides in our district. I repeat, it was glorious. The year is over, no COVID outbreaks, no snowflake meltdowns, just kids getting educated. (Oh, and no CRT in our school. Not going to happen here.)

There was an unspoken drama that played out, too. I love my little community, and we have been through some shit together. About 6 years ago, local deputies shot and killed a local rancher. In the end, there were no criminal charges but the widow won a civil suit. I managed the campaign for a man who tried to unseat the Sheriff who was protecting the deputies and lying to the community. The Sheriff kept his job. I worried about retaliation for a while, but he never did a damn thing for me to complain about.

Now, fast forward to the COVID years and that Sheriff I wanted to replace is a big part of the reason we had our lovely ceremony last night. Good luck / bad luck, sometimes you can only sort it out in the rear-view mirror. One of the deputies involved lives very near me, and to say we had some tense moments would be quite the understatement. But it is a small town, and time goes by, and life goes on... And Marxists overthrow our government and bioweapons get released... Priorities change. Small towns learn to pull together again, even after horrific rifts.

In that photo is one of my grandchildren. Also on stage is the grandchild of the rancher who was killed. The child of the deputy involved in his shooting is also up there, they are all in the same class. We all just clapped and cheered for each other's kids, because THAT is how people are supposed to be. Remember? Do you remember when "love thy neighbor" was something people did? Please remember! It is too precious to let it slip away...

Namaste.