Coopersville High School - Zenith Yearbook (Coopersville, MI)

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Valedictory FATE, FORTUNE AND FUTURE A noted picture, most popular in the days of myth and lore, is the picture of the “Three Fates.” Three sisters sit together weaving. Happi'y, the youngest is spinning the thread; seriously, the second is twisting it; and forbodingly, the third is cutting the thread of life as she chooses. Here the three fates sit destining the lives of mankind. They are the masters of the lives of all people. As one spins, she mingles in threads of light and dark, the happiness and sorrow of life. Into the twisting of the sjcond enter hope, fear, peace and strife—all intertwined in this frail thread of life. And forbodingly, the third with an enormus shears cuts the thread of life and ushers one more soul into the great beyond. Vain is the help of either gods or men to escape these fix- ed destinies, so thought the ancient men. Do these figures still weave, controling our destinies? Do we sit still and let fate plan our lives without even trying to over- come it ? We look at the life of Rolvagg the fisherman who shook his fist at fate and became the famous author of the book, “Giants in the Earth.” He was born in Norway, in a little fishing town. In this desolate scene amid the poverty and hardships of a fisherman, he grew up. The three fates surely decreed against him. Enormous dark threads of danger and sorrow were woven into his life. But he, defyingly, shook his fist at them, fought and conquered fate and accomplished a great task in the world. He left loved oner, sacrificed leadership as a fisherman, and took a long hard journey to the United States to accomplish his desires. We too can help to form our future. Happily, we must help spin our lives. Of course, there is a power above us, “A Divinity that shapes our lives; rough hewn them as we will.” That Divinity gives us the materials with which to spin our lives—healthy bod- ies, keen minds, homes, friends and schools. Through our four years of High School we have spun with the threads of industry and enthusiasm. So with our studying and recreation, we have begun our tapestry. Here with shuttle in hand, our loom before us, we face life looming large. Now with skill, taste, time and experience we must seriously weave these threads into lives of usefulness, into beautiful pieces of tapestry. PAGE TWENTY-TWO

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H‘gh S«W Class Poem SILVER AND BLUE Silver in the lining of the darkest clouds a-massed To our gaze revealed the world and life at last; Hearts a-thrill with vigor; eyes with hope a-light, Silver in the morning, blue at waning night. In those fields of labor, swamps and bogs we find; Strong and wise our leaders, great of heart and mind. Every pit they’ve noted from their watch at dawn, On their charts they marked them—now they lead us on. Soon the pathway leads to homes above the plain, Love and peace shall dwell there, truth and honor reign, Youth and strength and friendship give us dauntless might. Silver in the morning, blue at waning night. —Jessie Braamse PAGE TWENTY-ONE

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“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.” Patiently, day by day, may onr shuttle work in threads of loyalty, helpfulness, self-control, simplicity of heart, loveableness of nature. May we never weave our tapestry with the ugly threads of egotism, pettiness, self-pity and envy. Again we glance at the picture. Who is that ugly old woman with that enormus shears in her hand, castirg gloom over the en- tire picture? Forbodinglv, she is cutting the thread. This spells death in all its horror. But does fate alone cut cur lives short? How often we see people bestowed with the best materials, squan- der by foolish living their time, health and wealth. A few years of reckless pleasure cut their lives short. Burns, the great poet of farm life, who sang “the short and simple annals of the poor” was given the very best materials, excellent health, a keen mind, and a poetic soul. Fortune smiled on him and lifted him from the plow into the midst of the scholars of Europe. Here he became the leader, demanding the admiration of all. Then by his own foolish acts he cut his life. At the early age of thirty-seven, he fell a vic- tim of his folly, the awful drink habit. “It was not the lack of good fortune without but lack of good guidance within that wreck- ed his youth.” His life sings a fovboding song—sings of the shears that cuts with carelessness our lives. Every smallest twist of virtue or vice leaves its trace of beau- ty or ugliness in our tapestry. The three fates, spinning, weaving and cutting, do not alone decree our lives, as the ancient people thought. Fortune alone cannot bring success and b 'miness. The future calls to us, the class of 1928. With the materials of study and experience that our four years of High School have given us. may we weave our lives into beautiful, harmonizing tap- estries. Then shall our lives be happy, prosperous, useful. Then shall we not live in vain. To this future we go forward, hapny, thankful, expectant, eager to do great things, to be of value to the world. Our High School career is but the framework of our tapes- try. May we ever weave the threads of true greatness. “I would be true, for there arc those who trust me; I would be pure, for there are those who care; I would be strong, for there is much to suffer; I would be brave for there is much to dare; I would be friend to all,—the foe. the friendless; I would be giving, and forget the gift; I would be humble, for I know my weakness; I would look up, and laugh, and love, and lift.” PAGE TWENTY-THREE