The Class of 2020...such a catchy ring to it. Twenty-twenty, like your vision, the ABC show, the election year, the way it looks...memorable.
The Class of 2020 will always be special. You came into the world with a uniqueness, babies from 2002...the year of 9-11.
Most parents, like myself, did not realize you were the class of 2020, until you started kindergarten.
If you are a college graduate, I can see you now, opening your acceptance packet with the flag, Class of 2020. How flipping excited were you?
My son is a member of the High School Class of 2020.
Ironically, I discovered I was pregnant on the 9-11.
My husband and I decided that the 09-11 would always be about HOPE for us.
We also decided that our child would be named to represent 9-11. Elizabeth if it was a girl (Betsey Ross) and Walker (George W. Bush) if it was a boy.
We did not know what we were having, our gender reveal would take place in the delivery room. It turns out, our 9-11 baby, was a boy and weighed 9-11.
When things do not go as planned or turn out the way you wanted them to, it is about HOPE.
You have to believe there is good in everything.
My son's cap and gown are still in the Jostens's bag and will no doubt stay there. No last day of school picture on the step, no prom, no senior picnic and more than likely, no traditional graduation.
Walker's senior year was filled with highs and lows and then some very high highs and very low lows. And guess what, he's still standing. Somethings went as planned and some things did not. But all things provided a chance to learn and grow and start pushing him into adulthood.
In December, we were at the biggest wrestling tournament of the year and he came over before he wrestled and said whispered in my ear. When I saw him coming I thought he would say something about his opponent...instead I heard, "I got accepted to WVU." Excitement.
And I could hear it in his voice, mentally, he had graduated from High School. He was thinking of the future.
Parents are bummed. I get it. I wanted the 2020 closure, the finish line. My husband and I worked our butts off to make sure our kids had the best possible school years. I have done cereal box projects, di-a-ramas and worked many a Fall Festival, concession stand duty, shopped for the perfect first day of school outfit and sat with a child in my lap making sure they were prepared for the quiz the next day. I slipped deodorant in the backpacks to make sure they didn't stink on the bus and dug through the bottom of my purse for lunch money on many occasions.
One walk across a stage, a diploma exchange and a handshake...about four seconds in length but 13 hard years in the making.
The four second walk is just as much for parents as it is for the graduate. It is closure. It represents a start and a finish line.
And then the graduate walks across that stage, down the steps into a sea of people. You are at a new starting point. You all are. You are all the same as you were in kindergarten. You are starting over, but in a much bigger playing field. The game of life.
I graduated 41 years ago. I only remember that my high school graduation was inside. Typically, it was outside but there was rain in the forecast. Was I disappointed it was inside? No doubt but graduation happened anyway and I recovered. That is the ONLY thing I remember about High School graduation.
When I graduated four years later from WVU, it was one of the Top Ten days of my life...until I woke up the next day. The party was over. Literally. I had entered the big, bad world of adulthood and there was no turning back. I wish I would have known then what I know today.
And what I would tell you is...
1. The prom will not define your life.
2. There are exciting new things out there for you and they will happen.
3. Sadly, this senior year ending is not the worst thing that will ever happen to you.
4. The four second trip across the stage is not what you would have remembered, it will be everything that got you to the four second journey across the stage.
What you will take with you is a host of memories, the big game, the Fall Festival pie throwing contest, The Hall of Horror, the day your sister fell asleep on the bus and never woke up until the bus was in the parking lot, helping the bus driver back up the bus, nerf gun wars and wing eating contests, field trips with Miss Moore's class, DP and DB, weight lifting, driving the first time to school, your first kiss, your first girlfriend, ALC, Hurricane Florence and the water coming into the gymnasium and a million other things that will make you laugh or make you cry.
The Class of 2020 is an elite group and perhaps, no other class will surpass them. You were 9-11 babies born into a world of terrorism and now a pandemic. You have learned the biggest lesson in life and you are just 18, things do not go the way you planned. You must learn to live the life you were intended to live.
Good things always come from bad and historic events. They do. You have the opportunity to be a part of the good things, the important things.
And Class of 2020, did you want to finish ordinary when you started our extraordinary? You have started your next journey and you are doing it gracefully in a world of uncertainty. What an amazing start to your next adventure.
Parents, have Alexa play the graduation march. I already checked, it is on there...have that
graduate, College or High School, put on that cap and gown, have them march around the house, down the steps, give them longer than four seconds. I can assure you, you will have a much better view and a better photo opportunity. Graduate, throw that cap up in the air and yell something knowing you are an extraordinary member of the extraordinary Class of 2020. Adversity will not define you, you have proven so.
Parents, send your babies out into the world, hold their hands, don't hold them back. Just send them with lots of HOPE in your hearts.
It is all going to be ok...look in to the future with 20-20 vision.
