Dear Graduates,
The bell rang for the last time. You probably didn't give it a glimmer of a thought. You bolted. Excited for your time in those awkward high school hallways to have come to an end. You didn't embrace that last trip to your locker because you were simply just impressed that you had actually cleaned everything out of it on time. That teacher, your favorite teacher, said goodbye to you one last time as a student. You didn't realize how much pride that he or she felt watching you take that walk to the podium to retrieve your diploma. These past few months have been an intense whirlwind and your precious time as a "child" has now turned into a, sometimes scary, embarkment into adulthood. The petty fights and social battles that you had in high school will no longer matter and will discipate from your mind completely by the time your five year reunion arrives. You now realize that you have a few short months to spend with friends and loved ones before heading into the beginning of the rest of your life. You should be filled with so much excitement that your face hurts from smiling. Now that you are an adult, we will let you in on a little secret. Our days here on this planet pass by faster than you ever thought possible. As fast as we tell you that it will pass by, you will end up wishing it were that slow. Spend your next few months wisely. Fill your days with friends and family. They are a precious commodity, and I promise, you will need them later. You will need your family in ways that you haven't before. Your mother will become your best friend overnight and your brother will become the person that you share secrets with. Your father will be there when you can't afford gas and your car breaks down on the interstate. Be patient with your family over the next few months while they smother you. This is a hard time for them. They are imagining an empty house and how their world works without you coming home to them everynight. Take this time to be with your friends at any opportunity. You will be parting ways soon and maybe all over different parts of the country. You will need to lean on them when things get hard for you. Go swimming, eat ice cream, travel all of your hometown backroads, play with your pets and take your brothers and sisters out to the movies and embrace your sibling rivalry and realize how precious it actually is. Your family and your friends will be your constant throughout your journey. My biggest piece of advice to you in all that you are going to embark on is to just simply put your phone down. You don't need to take that picture. You won't need to text anyone because everyone that matters will already be surrounding you. Facebook and Instagram can wait. Hug your mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, friends, and teachers and just be excited. To say that we are proud of you is the biggest of understatements.
Kristen Hamilton
The bell rang for the last time. You probably didn't give it a glimmer of a thought. You bolted. Excited for your time in those awkward high school hallways to have come to an end. You didn't embrace that last trip to your locker because you were simply just impressed that you had actually cleaned everything out of it on time. That teacher, your favorite teacher, said goodbye to you one last time as a student. You didn't realize how much pride that he or she felt watching you take that walk to the podium to retrieve your diploma. These past few months have been an intense whirlwind and your precious time as a "child" has now turned into a, sometimes scary, embarkment into adulthood. The petty fights and social battles that you had in high school will no longer matter and will discipate from your mind completely by the time your five year reunion arrives. You now realize that you have a few short months to spend with friends and loved ones before heading into the beginning of the rest of your life. You should be filled with so much excitement that your face hurts from smiling. Now that you are an adult, we will let you in on a little secret. Our days here on this planet pass by faster than you ever thought possible. As fast as we tell you that it will pass by, you will end up wishing it were that slow. Spend your next few months wisely. Fill your days with friends and family. They are a precious commodity, and I promise, you will need them later. You will need your family in ways that you haven't before. Your mother will become your best friend overnight and your brother will become the person that you share secrets with. Your father will be there when you can't afford gas and your car breaks down on the interstate. Be patient with your family over the next few months while they smother you. This is a hard time for them. They are imagining an empty house and how their world works without you coming home to them everynight. Take this time to be with your friends at any opportunity. You will be parting ways soon and maybe all over different parts of the country. You will need to lean on them when things get hard for you. Go swimming, eat ice cream, travel all of your hometown backroads, play with your pets and take your brothers and sisters out to the movies and embrace your sibling rivalry and realize how precious it actually is. Your family and your friends will be your constant throughout your journey. My biggest piece of advice to you in all that you are going to embark on is to just simply put your phone down. You don't need to take that picture. You won't need to text anyone because everyone that matters will already be surrounding you. Facebook and Instagram can wait. Hug your mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, friends, and teachers and just be excited. To say that we are proud of you is the biggest of understatements.
Kristen Hamilton
Family and friends are always more important than phones. Foundation, bedrock and safe haven with love and laughter thrown in for the lucky ones.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDelete