February Is A Time For Love, Goodbyes
February 15, 2017 at 5:27 p.m.
By Roger Grossman-
Valentine’s Day is a time when we show special affection to the people who we love. We shower them with candy and chocolate, we send flowers and give gifts – all in the name of showing them how much we love them. And, no doubt, somewhere around here some boy got on a knee and asked his best friend if she would spend the rest of her life with him … and she said “yes.”
But this time of year is also a sad time. Most of the almost 400 girls basketball teams in the state tournament have been eliminated.
That means those seniors who have played their last game for their school, most of them their last basketball game ever, have shed tears for the realization that their high school basketball careers are over. More than that, they have been reminded that the girl who has had the locker on their left and the girl who has been their teammate for layup lines since sixth grade no longer is that anymore.
It’s over.
In particular, the parting at Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw has been especially painful.
At Valley, the joy and hope the senior class brought to their school and their community has been tangible. Winning makes everyone feel better, that’s true. But the way they did it – with grace and class and never a hint of arrogance or unsportsmanlike attitude – made these girls more than just players on a basketball team. No, these girls who are now known by first names by their fans are ambassadors of good will and have stamped their names into the history book there.
Their legacy is one of hard work, being coachable, giving up self and being available for whatever the team might need from them.
At Warsaw, the sadness comes from a group of girls who have literally been joined at the hip for almost half their lives. They went everywhere together, did everything together, messed things up together and, in the end, got it right together. They entered high school with great promise and fanfare. They were supposed to be the “next great class” of girls basketball at Warsaw.
But for most of their high school days they struggled. The results were not what they had been expecting. The wins that came so easy when they were younger became more elusive.
So, with one year left, they sat down, and they figured it out.
With one chance left they made the most of it. They won 20 games and had one of the best regular seasons a Lady Tiger team ever had.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that they ‘figured it out.’ They figured out that together they could do so much more than they could as individuals. They had always been together as a group, but now they came together as human beings.
They will be better people for that. They will be better college students and employees and bosses and wives and moms because of what they went through.
Lady Tiger teams of the future will be better for it, too. This senior class’ legacy is one of showing us what it’s like to grow up in 2017. It’s a story with a happy ending and as long as I am around, I will share that story.
And while the girls basketball seasons are over for our local teams, the reality of senior nights for boys basketball teams and swimmers and wrestlers and gymnasts are setting in. Flipping the calendar over to 2017 means finalizing college plans, filling out financial aid paperwork and figuring out who to invite for graduation open house.
And THAT is when it really sinks in … high school is almost over.
And it’s as hard or harder for the parents than the kids, because goodbyes are rough even when you know they are coming.
Valentine’s Day is a time when we show special affection to the people who we love. We shower them with candy and chocolate, we send flowers and give gifts – all in the name of showing them how much we love them. And, no doubt, somewhere around here some boy got on a knee and asked his best friend if she would spend the rest of her life with him … and she said “yes.”
But this time of year is also a sad time. Most of the almost 400 girls basketball teams in the state tournament have been eliminated.
That means those seniors who have played their last game for their school, most of them their last basketball game ever, have shed tears for the realization that their high school basketball careers are over. More than that, they have been reminded that the girl who has had the locker on their left and the girl who has been their teammate for layup lines since sixth grade no longer is that anymore.
It’s over.
In particular, the parting at Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw has been especially painful.
At Valley, the joy and hope the senior class brought to their school and their community has been tangible. Winning makes everyone feel better, that’s true. But the way they did it – with grace and class and never a hint of arrogance or unsportsmanlike attitude – made these girls more than just players on a basketball team. No, these girls who are now known by first names by their fans are ambassadors of good will and have stamped their names into the history book there.
Their legacy is one of hard work, being coachable, giving up self and being available for whatever the team might need from them.
At Warsaw, the sadness comes from a group of girls who have literally been joined at the hip for almost half their lives. They went everywhere together, did everything together, messed things up together and, in the end, got it right together. They entered high school with great promise and fanfare. They were supposed to be the “next great class” of girls basketball at Warsaw.
But for most of their high school days they struggled. The results were not what they had been expecting. The wins that came so easy when they were younger became more elusive.
So, with one year left, they sat down, and they figured it out.
With one chance left they made the most of it. They won 20 games and had one of the best regular seasons a Lady Tiger team ever had.
But that’s not the point.
The point is that they ‘figured it out.’ They figured out that together they could do so much more than they could as individuals. They had always been together as a group, but now they came together as human beings.
They will be better people for that. They will be better college students and employees and bosses and wives and moms because of what they went through.
Lady Tiger teams of the future will be better for it, too. This senior class’ legacy is one of showing us what it’s like to grow up in 2017. It’s a story with a happy ending and as long as I am around, I will share that story.
And while the girls basketball seasons are over for our local teams, the reality of senior nights for boys basketball teams and swimmers and wrestlers and gymnasts are setting in. Flipping the calendar over to 2017 means finalizing college plans, filling out financial aid paperwork and figuring out who to invite for graduation open house.
And THAT is when it really sinks in … high school is almost over.
And it’s as hard or harder for the parents than the kids, because goodbyes are rough even when you know they are coming.
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