The parents, grandparents and guardians of students have played a vital role on the road to graduation. From nagging us to finish that grueling English essay we had been putting off, checking our progress in Math, or attending countless parent/teacher interviews, you always pushed us to our limits.
As annoying as all of these things may have seemed to us, you did them because you cared and wanted to watch us succeed.
You have been our number one supporters through thick and thin. You’ve had a front row seat to every agonizing grade 8 band performance, disappointing 14-0 soccer match, or seemingly never-ending drama production, (we’re so sorry we put you through that).
In times when it seemed as if nothing would make us feel better, you’d greet us with a smile and a hug to bring up our spirits. We are thankful for every “it’s okay”, “you’ll get ‘em next time”, “your trumpet playing sounded great” or “you did the best you could” you’ve ever muttered at us in a time of defeat (And trust us, we know our trumpet playing sucked, but thank you for pushing us to keep at it).
We’re sorry for every moment of hormonal teenage sass we’ve ever given you. We’re sorry for the eyerolls because “ugh, Mom you just don’t get it.” We’re sorry for our questionable choices in friends or partners and honestly, we’re just sorry for puberty in general. It was a rough time for everyone involved.
You’ve taught us every valuable thing we know. How to speak, swim, ride a bike, count to 10, respect others and be ourselves. Without you, we would still think it is socially acceptable to walk through a grocery store naked and eat handfuls of dirt for an afternoon snack (some may still think that, but at least you tried your best; parenting is hard, it’s okay). As a result of your persistence, we will grow up to be lawyers, doctors, teachers, or anything we set our mind to.
We know how hard of a year 2020 has been so far for all of us. Not being able to celebrate our grad the way we had hoped due to COVID-19 has not only been tough on us grads, but on you as well.
Seeing your child walk across a stage to receive their diploma is as much of a rite of passage for you parents as it is for us because, after all, you got us there. We’ve had successes and we’ve made mistakes during our 17 or 18 years on this earth, but all we can hope is that we continue to make you proud, despite any circumstances.
At the end of the day we want you to be able to look at us and see the tiny human you raised and be proud of the adults we are becoming.
The journey to graduation was a bumpy road and there is no guarantee that from this point it will become any smoother. We ask that you stick with us to forever help navigate around the potholes and patch the flat tires that life will throw at us.
We love you and are grateful for all your help getting us to this special day. Thank you for everything you do.
Darby Small and Mikaela Carter, on behalf of the Brooks Secondary SChool graduating Class of 2020.
