I love history. I love that it connects the past and the present because life is a kind of continuum. Last year was someone’s graduation, this year is my graduation and next year will be someone else’s.Each day is the best or the worst ever to someone on earth, but it’s easy to think only of our own big days. All the rest of the calendar is simply “the space in between” in our own eyes, but each one is someone else’s big day.

I must admit that I sometimes stumble into the pitfall of overlooking other people’s big days. Each one really is a gift from above and deserves recognition and appreciation.

With that in mind, I’d like to recognize some of the folks who make otherwise ordinary days very special.

Family comes first, and I think I speak for about everybody when I say the love and support – emotional as well as financial – of family has been an anchor through the years. For my own part, I am grateful to my Mom, Dad and younger brother Eric.

Friends, of course, make life worthwhile, and TCU is a friendly campus that will be easy to miss and to remember well. To these people, I’d like to offer sincere wishes of good luck for all they chose to do as they move on along their own life paths, and I continue on mine.

I’d like to offer personal thanks to many others as well. The history department is full of terrific people – from the front of classrooms through the rows of seats to the administrative offices.

Working at the Skiff has been one of the most rewarding joys I’ve had in college. I’d like to thank my editors, Stephanie Weaver, Jeniffer Berry and Brian Chatman, and I want to also thank Robert Bohler for his vital work and professional advice.

I certainly hope you’ve seen – and enjoyed – my “NewsReal” cartoons on the Opinion page and my “Three Dimensions” cartoons on the Etc. page. The Skiff has had a terrific year, and being part of it has been a complete thrill for me.

There are many other people, too many to name, who merit “grad-itude.” I’d like to thank all the people – students and teachers alike – whose dedication to learning has made TCU a great place to learn and a fun place to study. Congratulations on another great year!

Skiff cartoonist Nicholas Michael Sambaluk is a senior history major from Poolville. He will begin graduate studies at UNT this fall.