A Rolling Parade

Today I am grateful for our son Sam, on this, his graduation day. I am also so appreciative of the efforts of his school and our community to honor and celebrate the Class of 2020 in these challenging circumstances.

His graduation, and that of his 330 classmates, will consist of a rolling parade of sorts. It will be a different kind of parade for sure, but each graduate will have his or her moment in it. There will be caps, gowns, tassels, and diplomas.

Rolling parade is a very apt phrase for me in many ways. There has been a rolling parade of emotions and memories. The other day at school, there was a sporadic parade of cars with parents and students dropping off school items and picking up personal items from lockers.

There has been a heartbreaking parade of pictures of burned out, looted, damaged buildings in the Twin Cities and around the country. There have been peaceful walking parades of protesters and demonstrators who only want peace, justice, and an end to divisive politics and practices.

And there has been a rolling parade of pictures of Sam in a digital frame that we would have had out for his graduation party. When it became clear that his scheduled graduation party wasn't going to happen, we got the frame out and started the pictures rolling. For weeks now, we have honored our graduate in the ways we can, to help make up for the ways we can't.

The rolling parade of pictures includes this toddler, rockin' along:


And this senior picture of a young man serious about helping his team roll down the field:


Darcy, Sam, and I will participate in a parade this evening. A parade of graduates and parents, of teachers and school officials. A parade of emotions. Leading the way will be our love for Sam, our pride in the young man he is, our hope for his bright future.

Congratulations Sam and all in the HHS Class of 2020!


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