Page 13 - Publishing Inspiration Christmas Card 2009

finished. Finally, with one last, quick, nervous

glance around, he left. I walked toward my

locker, but stopped in front of Van’s. That’s

when the realization hit me. I could see the

lockers of all of the varsity wrestlers, including

my own, decorated with crepe paper, fancy

drawn cougars (our mascot) and good luck

wishes. Van’s locker was adorned in a

somewhat similar fashion, but the pictures

weren’t as well drawn, and at the bottom he had

added “From Your Secret Admirer”.

It was then that I realized that the praise

and glory I had grown to take for granted was

not part of his life. He had lived in my athletic

shadow all through high school. And yet, I also

realized that in many ways he made me what I

was. He was the one that pushed me to be

better, always there to take my place if I didn’t

9