A very wise woman recently smiled at me with compassion as I wept, telling me the reason this goodbye hurts so much is because it means something. She’s right, it does mean something. This town, this community, this school. It has all meant so much to us.

Whether it be the simple waves from vehicles that pass, or the billboard of our kids’ artwork that reminds us to be better people. How the sage smells after a rain, floating he Hams Fork on a warm day, or running to the store for five minutes that actually takes 45 because of the friendly faces you see in each aisle. The reminder that if you don’t know what you’re doing — someone in town certainly does, and of course how unbelievably good Big Spring water tastes. Then, upon a rarity that you can’t recall a name, you can figure it out because, “you know that guy from the gas station? Well it’s his wife’s mom’s cousin’s brother.” When we had no one, you had us. You became our family. It’s not just a small-town thing, it’s a Kemmerer thing and it is magic. There’s so much to miss as we look forward to our future, but we’ll certainly miss the cheers that can be heard all the way to our front porch from the football field, and the way town seems to stand still when the “K” is lit during homecoming. That regardless of their names, there is a “big bank” and a “little bank” and Opal Street is pronounced differently than the rustic Opal. How once the temperature is about 40 degrees the side-by-sides start buzzing in the streets and any vehicle is referred to as an outfit. The pit is a sacred place not meant for garbage as it may sound and Ranger Park is actually just a parking lot. And for some reason, no matter your taste, country music just belongs to the summer here.

I’m sure that someday in my future I’ll have a friend in my car ask me if I knew that person we just passed, because I waved. Then I realize, oh just a habit. I’ll smile to myself, blinking back tears, and say, “It’s just something we did back home.”

I don’t think that anyone really knows the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. The people and places in this town have been a huge part of our journey and we are who we are because of you. Thank you for being a part of that. So Kemmerer, a toast to you: here’s to the months that turned into years, with friends that turned into family.

— Katie, Adam and Arwen Lindgren