This past weekend was one filled with emotion for many of us. High school graduation is a milestone achievement for both graduates and their family members. It is a time of celebration of that accomplishment, while also realizing a chapter is closing. A new world is beginning.

It really doesn’t matter if I even know anyone walking in the processional - every time I hear Pomp and Circumstance it makes me tear up! Most likely, that is due to the realization of how many years have gone by since I was the graduate walking in to the band playing, and above all, how quickly those years have gone. This year, however, there was a different source for the tears - my granddaughter was one of the graduates.

Saying it has just gone by in a flash seems so cliche, but we all know how true it is. I love the video that Callaway Public School did of their preschool graduates and high school graduates, with the littles entering behind the screen and the bigs coming out the other side. It really does seem that quick, doesn’t it?

While it was a joyous weekend for so many of us, celebrating graduates and moms, our friends to the south in Cozad suffered an incomprehensible loss. An entire family was the victim of a horrific tragedy, the result of a very long battle with mental illness - a battle the Koch family fought very openly and bravely.

I had the opportunity to interview Jeremy and his oldest son, Hudson, a few years ago for an article I wrote about the family’s greenhouse and landscaping business in Cozad. I had also visited a few times with Jeremy’s wife, Bailey. Because of their transparency about their mental health journey, their story was familiar to many.

This family was supposed to be celebrating a graduation, too. Instead, the Cozad class of 2025 had to navigate through the grief and shock of losing a classmate the day of their graduation. The tragedy has rocked the community of Cozad to its core, and the aftershocks can be felt throughout this entire area. It is in times like these that you realize how much we are all connected - we know someone, who knows someone or is related to that person. It is, indeed, a small world.

And right now, there are families, teenagers, a community, in need of our prayers and support.

Many of us have been touched in our own families and friend circles by mental illness. I have. Several years ago, a young woman took her life right here in Callaway, my husband’s 19-year-old step-sister. It is no secret that the mental health system in our nation is very broken. We must find a way to fix it.

It is hard to process such strong mixed emotions joy and celebration, grief and sorrow - at the same time. That is where many of us have found ourselves the past few days. I believe there are just things we will never know or understand…we aren’t supposed to. But I also believe in the one who knows and understands all. So did Jeremy, Bailey, Hudson, and Asher.

As we continue to celebrate with the class of 2025, may we remember how fleeting life can be and keep our focus on the things that really matter. Let us celebrate our accomplishments, live with passion, and love one another well.

Contact Ellen at: ellen@syndicatepub.com