End of an Era

Today is a sad, sad day in Delco.

The Archdiocesan school closings, though somewhat expected, still managed to rock the county. The tradition of Catholic education is indelibly intertwined into the very fabric of life and history here, and it seems like today is the end of a long and happy age. How ironic that this sad news is announced on the Feast of the Epiphany, the day that tradition says the three wise men, bearing gifts, finally found the infant Jesus. What a terrible "gift" we received today.

That Delco will lose Bonner and Prendie, as well as Our Lady of Fatima, St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril, Annunciation BVM, St. Francis de Sales, Holy Saviour-St. John Fisher, and St. Gabriel - contributors of such rich tradition in this area since their foundings -  saddens me deeply. Kids lost their childhoods today. Families lost their second homes. Rivalries, friendships, traditions - evaporated. Vanished. Gone. It kills me.

But most of all, I feel so bad for the kids. I can't imagine what kind of pain and shock they're feeling right now.
Sure, I go to O'Hara. Am I relieved to hear that my school is staying open? Absolutely. But if the shoe was on the other foot and O'Hara closed, I would be beyond devastated. O'Hara is my home and my family. The thought that one day it might cease to exist - maybe not now, but someday - petrifies me. Now, those kids - my peers, people I might have known well - have lost their home and their family.

Those who are joining the O'Hara family next year will no doubt be welcomed with open arms. Already, it warms my heart a little to see topics like #delcolove, #welcometothefamily, and #onation on Twitter. That said, it certainly doesn't mitigate the pain.

Today, we put the rivalries and the past behind us. Today, we need to be a family.

"Ohana means family, family means that nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." - Lilo & Stitch