Fredericksburg High School - Rapahanoc Yearbook (Fredericksburg, VA)

Page 44 text:

Fellow-Pupils, Men and Women: The parting of friends is the most living sadness of life, a sweet sorrow and compensation for which lies in grief’s beckoning toward better things. We are here this night to say farewell, to part from you and from each other, to say good-bye to friends. We have played and sung and quarreled thru the years, but we have loved and worked and hoped together. With one another we have struggled over the formation of Q, traced the curious curves of the Father of Waters, and were glad of the afternoon sunshine with its respite for play. We have heard the clock tick while with beating heart we fought the demon of forgetfulness and tried to be¬ come the hero of the hour in a spelling match, and on spring days we have trodden woodland paths in search of woodland flowers, that we might combine youthful theory with youthful fact. With flowing sash and freshly laundered blouse we have proudly trudged along the shaded streets of our town and thru the big arch of the cemetery on warm May days—our class. We sadly smile as we recall these incidents of our earlier years. These mem¬ ories were once passing incidents, living realities, part of our lives. The smile which they call forth symbolizes in the most effective deg.ee the tender emotions within us this night. With less aid of time’s reflecting power to stamp the memories in our hearts, we have expectantly awaited the first question on an examination, looking at one another in dread, and on cold fall days we have heard the shrill cry, “Ready High School?” We have become talented musicians in a Kitchen Orchestra, and we have lustily sung the finale of a Senior play—our class. We have loved, labored, and won, but we have lived together. Tonight we leave one another, our first companions. It is our first parting of the ways. Though we enter higher institutions, tomorrow we assume the responsi¬ bilities of life, tomorrow we enter manhood and womanhood. “We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.” It is the spreading dawn of hope, and as the light slowly breaks upon the plains of the future, we are warm with the expectation, yet timid with fear, and filled with sweet memories of the previous day. 40

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RPvPRHFvNDC 192 To Mrs. Blake we do will and bequeath 1. One yard of sticking plaster to keep Edith Janney’s mouth shut. 2. One dozen bottles of “Neroine” to build up her frayed nerves after the class of ’21 has contaminated her study hall for four years. To Miss Johnson we will and bequeath That good for nothing typewriter on the third table of the second row so that she will at least understand why William Russell could never average more than three perfect copies per week. To Mrs. Williams we will and bequeath A Virgil class without Carl and Alvin Rowe to exchange opinions and incidentally, blows, 1 o Mrs. Link we do will and bequeath One middle sized gas oven which will bake biscuits in from two to three hours. 1 o Mr. Swem we do will and bequeath A physical culture class who will grasp as he puts it, “The feminine accomplis hment of marching,” quicker than we did. To all the classes that come after us we do will and bequeath The keynote of our happiness, the secret of our success, the source of our inspiration and our most precious relic, the motto of the class of ’21, “Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.” In testimony thereof we have set our hands and seals this first day of June, 1921. —Josephine Carter Barney 39

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Rp PRi-mrtDc 1921 The parting of friends calls for tokens, and a friend’s farewell gift is advice founded upon experience. Before us is Life, the four-lettered term of our present conscious all. What is it and how shall we deal with it Others have won, others have lost. What say they? “Life,” they calmly answer, “is you. You are Life.” We are further told that we realize that fact but do not appreciate it. Instinct answers in the affirmative, but experience does not confirm the answer. As we meet life’s many problems we shall look about for an ever-successful solution. Whether or not we shall try all other methods, and for lack of faith fail to see within ourselves the true answer to life’s conundrums, will determine whether we shall be successful or failures, whether the Universal Plan is true or false. We have often been told that life is what we make it. but more often have men struggled with life upon the principle that mankind moulds their existence without considering their own wills. It is the inexorable law, it is an old cure for an old trouble, but it is the simple solution. I he Great Law applies to us, class of 1921 ; we are masters of our fate. The individual is supreme in that he can determine the course of his own life. The individual is supreme in that it is his privilege to allow others to help him and his privilege to encourage others to help him—the principle of success. The indi¬ vidual is supreme in that he may effectively apply the laws of justice, labor, and love to his own troubles. The individual is supreme in that it is his privilege to allow others to help him and the secret of life are optional; they are given to those who do. To the individual has been given the privilege of casting his lot with either pan of the scales of chance. It is God’s own plan; it is natural; it is right. Lack of ability because of a lack of knowledge will cause a lack of initiative. We claim that we did not have the chance and that the world will not accept our services at their present value. We can overcome this handicap by bringing into practice a great law of justice (and of labor as well, for the trinity is inseparable) — do the right thing even tho you have been doing wrong; one more unjust action will always drag you farther from what you know to be right and what you instinctively desire; one more worthy deed will always lead you nearer. We allow opportuni¬ ties to roll by, we permit our troubles to augment because of a misconception of our ability, and we are weary idlers among the pilgrims along the Great Road. As temptations come to us, temptation to wrong ourselves, the observance of several inflexible rules can cast out this stumbling block to success. Do nothing which instinct tells you is wrong and which has been so proven. Perhaps the 41