It’s been a long journey on the road so far. Many battles and deaths have been overcome. Sam and Dean have had many heartbreaking and life-shattering moments. It is finally at the end. Season 15 of “Supernatural” starts Oct. 10, and this 15-year series will finally end. 

Created by Eric Kripke, Supernatural is a fantasy show which first aired in 2005.

Supernatural is an intriguing story of two brothers who drive across the country practicing their family business, hunting for monsters and saving people from said monstrous beings. 

The more you learn about these two brothers, the more you fall in love with the characters and their faults. Over time you grow a love of classic rock that is always blaring through their 1967 Chevy Impala. There is comedy, horror and some amazing character development. The brothers face many different hardships as they hunt down demons, vampires and angels. They face death and turmoil daily in an attempt to save the world from the things that go bump in the night. 

It’s easy to enjoy all the crossovers and many references, including “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “Scooby-Doo.” The characters even walk into a musical theater production about themselves. 

This series talks about god, gods, heaven, hell, purgatory and everything in between. If you are a lover of Halloween and all things spooky, then Supernatural is the show for you. It was based on many different horror movies and creepy legends that everyone knows and loves. This story of love and family not only gives many different life lessons, but creates a family in the fandom itself. This has been shown in many fan meetups and interviews over the last 15 years.

The fan base itself has grouped to create their own day – Supernatural Day is officially Sept. 13. To celebrate this day, it’s suggested that you watch a marathon of all the show’s seasons with other fans.

“Every Sept. 13, fans come together to celebrate the show’s anniversary with Supernatural Day,” according to CheatSheet.com. “And coincidentally, this year’s Winchester-themed festivities – the last before the final season – fell on Friday the 13th. It also happens to be the same day as a full moon. So you best believe fans got excited.” 

If you look up supernatural day then you will find many different articles about this day and why it’s a thing. The day is all about fans celebrating the show – wearing their merchandise and participating in Supernatural themed activities. 

This community of fans has developed over the years. They have even developed shirts to mark this 15th anniversary of the beginning of the show and the final ending to the series altogether. 

“The fans haven’t just created their own crazy, dysfunctional family; they’ve done some real good in the world, and that’s not changing right now,” according to The Mary Sue. 

Hot Topic partnered with some of the stars of the show to sell a shirt to celebrate the end of the series, and the profits were used to help victims of Hurricane Dorian.

Speaking from experience, this series has changed my life in many ways. My closest friends and I have bonded over this series and it was essentially the start of our friendship. One of them even got an anti-possession tattoo to mark his love for this amazing fandom and the family it has created.

Photos taken by Mykala Crews.

Timothy Krause speaking at William Jewell College about his book “Finding Theo.”

Timothy Krause, ‘83, graduated from William Jewell College with a degree in physics and an amazing Jewell experience. Following his graduation, Krause spent 30 years in high technology and is now a member of the Deloitte Consulting Game Changer Program and director of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. He is a 2015 recipient of the Jewell Citation for Achievement.

While at Jewell, Krause was on the track team, in Lambda Chi Alpha and spent a majority of his time in Marston or in the music department – Krause admitted that he loved music and his girlfriend who was always there.  Both Krause and his wife are Jewell alumni in the class of ‘83. Krause wasn’t the only one from his family to attend the College. His two brothers and his sister also attended Jewell.

“My Jewell experience was great. I’d kinda like to go back!” Krause said about his life at Jewell.

According to Krause, while college can never fully prepare someone for the professional world, the liberal arts education he received at Jewell did launch his career.

“I would have to say the key to any career success I had was built on the liberal arts education that I got at William Jewell,” said Krause.“The world changes so fast that the only hope that you have is to be able to learn how to learn.”

Earlier this year Krause attended campus to present his book  “Finding Theo,” about his son’s battle to live after a tragic biking accident on a Colorado mountain trail.

According to goodreads, the text is a raw account of the events and prompts the reader to wonder about the miracles of the world.

Finding Theo is a father’s raw account of his son’s courageous battle for life. It is also a deeper story of discovery about the people whose lives became interwoven with Theo’s: the son of an Iranian immigrant who found him beside the trail, medical professionals―one, the sister of a Columbine High School massacre victim―and the cast of friends who guarded his soul.

Long after the last page turns, Finding Theo provokes questions about the meaning of “miracle” and the way the world was made to work.

Krause acknowledged that the book he was thinking about writing was completely different than the book he did. In the writing process, there was a transition from a story about one family’s miracle to a broader tale about finding your way in life.

When the Krause family first found out about the accident, they had a sense of disbelief mix with fear and horror.  

“[It was a moment of] ‘this only happens to other people,’” said Krause.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Theo’s parents relied on their friends, family and faith while Theo dropped everything to focus on his recovery.

Krause is proud of the determination his son had through recovery.

“The one thing that we would regret the most would be, looking back on it, if we did not give it everything we had to try and recover,” said Krause.

This determination guided the family through a challenging 12 weeks spent in the hospital and onto the emotional recovery of current times.

“You have to get to the point where you can not take the pain away from your son, you can not take it on for him, you can’t solve it for him, he has to solve it for himself, so the healthiest thing to is not to ask him how his pain is, but more about how he feels about his pain, how he is dealing with his pain,” Krause said of the advice he was given about helping with his son’s emotional and physical recovery.

“When dealing with these things, you’re not the only one to have ever dealt with this; you’re not alone,” Krause said.“You need to have your own vision for your future.”

Photo by Mykala Crews.

Photos taken by Mykala Crews.