Help make 2020 memorable for our high school graduates

When my son was 2 years old in 2004, I figured out that he would receive his high school diploma in 2020. “How cool is that,” I thought. “What a great year to graduate – 2020, how perfect!”

Well, I failed to have the vision, if you will, that 2020 would be, well, an unprecedented time to receive your sheepskin.

As recently as early March, I took the novel coronavirus about as seriously as Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. Even at the end of that month, I was certain that normalcy would return by June. It became evident in April that there might not be graduation ceremonies.

Truth be told, I blocked out the lack of pomp and circumstance in my son’s future when the coronavirus altered our lives due to such distractions as work, relocation and three other children. I have a college student who recently completed her junior year, a high school freshman and an elementary school student.

My bookend daughters continued to excel academically once the lockdown began, but my sons have been driven to distraction while school is in session outside bricks and mortar.

I was relatively cavalier about my older son’s situation until I spoke with a friend whose only child will graduate high school without a ceremony in a few weeks. When we were chatting, I noted that the whole world is in disarray and we’re all suffering – and our sons’ lack of a graduation ceremony isn’t that big of a deal.

My longtime pal made me realize that I wasn’t dealing with the pain. He was right and I swept how I’ve been feeling under the carpet. What could I do? What can we do?

One of my favorite phrases, it can’t hurt to ask, rolled through my mind. What could I do for my son, Eddie, and his schoolmates? I called my boy, and we brainstormed. A request was sent to the principal of my graduating son’s high school in suburban Philadelphia. The ask was for an automobile procession for the seniors in the smallest school district in Pennsylvania, and it was granted.

The parade through town, which is less than 1 square mile, was held recently on what would have been the school’s annual field day. Much of the borough, with a population of just over 4,000, cheered the kids on, and Eddie had a blast. The video he shared with friends and family captured a community pouring its heart out for 42 seniors who were deprived of a graduation ceremony.

There will be a semblance of a graduation in mid-June for Eddie like there will be for grads in Spokane, but what he’ll probably remember most was the motorcade that he is still talking about.

It won’t be easy to replicate in Spokane what my son enjoyed in his hometown. I was trying to envision how a procession could work for Ferris graduates to parade through South Hill. But perhaps there are other outside-the-box concepts that could be proposed.

It would be nice for the graduates to have some sort of memory that closes an era other than a quick walk up to a podium while clad in a mask. This is all due to circumstance. Who could have foreseen the pandemic, which has caused more than 100,000 deaths nationwide, which is nearly half the population of Spokane?

Staying healthy and playing it safe is most important. But I finally wrapped myself around how significant high school graduation is and that anything that can be done should be so our graduates have their time in the sun.

I can’t help but recall many of the memories, the first day of kindergarten, the spring and Christmas recitals, high school baseball and football and the last day of school each year. The latter was significant. I would always meet my children at the door after the last of their classes concluded to talk about the year during the walk home.

It’s difficult grappling how abrupt the school year and Eddie’s final year ended. No prom, senior internship or school trip. What was most painful for Eddie is the lack of a high school baseball season in which he would have been captain and once again the ace on the mound. He would have been pitching to his brother, Milo.

We’ll look back in hindsight on 2020 and perhaps wonder what else we could have done for the graduates, and also for the parents. There’s only one high school graduation. There can be more than one college graduation. But I am hoping there is a commencement for my daughter, Jillian, when she is slated to receive her BA in May 2021. There is much that is out of our control, but let’s be creative and see what we can do for our graduates.

It’s a tough time, and its so difficult that even those who normally live in a fortress of solitude have expressed their feelings. The altruistic NBA icon LeBron James gets it and produced a moving show, “Graduate Together,” which aired mid-May. The program, which was produced by his production company, Spring Hill Entertainment, featured Barack Obama, the Jonas Brothers and Alicia Keys, among many other luminaries.

“I especially really feel for the senior class of 2020,” James said in a statement to ESPN in April. “The end of high school and graduation was one of the best memories of my life. It’s not fair. Every graduating senior needs to know how much we feel for them. … This class is going to be special because they know in a real way how to persevere.”

Hopefully the collection of 17- and 18-year-olds who have been slapped with the harsh reality of life will become a little stronger as one chapter unceremoniously ends and the next phase of their lives commences.