Dear readers. As a point of explanation, Allie is our granddaughter, who graduates this year. This letter is for her and all the other graduates.
I have listened to many commencement speeches over the years, and the one recurring theme always seems to be how the future is now yours, and what we would do with it if we had the opportunity once again. I am here to tell you today, that out of all of the teachers you have had over the years, the greatest teacher is yet to come— and that is life itself. You have already had many experiences with this, but believe me, the best is yet to come.
Every time there has been change in this country it was done, seemingly, to make something work better. That is our hope—that you will make this place a better place to live for all of us. Change is not always better, and change is not always easy. We, in my generation, have found this out numerous times sadly, and in many different ways. The good that comes from making these mistakes is only beneficial when we are willing to admit that what we did was not for the best. That maybe, what we had in the first place was simply better to start with. That yes, maybe we went in a wrong direction, and our change was simply for the sake of change. I say this because I am trying to point out that good solutions to problems are made mostly by trial and error. You young people do have one advantage over my generation, and my parent’s generation. We have made most of the errors there are to be made already. So before you look to the future, look to the past, and investigate what didn’t work for us and why. I can show you many examples of how our generation made the same mistakes over and over again and continue to do so. Don’t do that. It’s a waste of time and energy and the clock of life is always ticking.
There is something exciting about a fresh start in life and an almost-clean slate. It’s a chance, for the first time in your life, to show the world what you can do, what you are made of, and to tell the world—now it is your turn. I am here to tell you I am excited for you. As we go through life, personal achievement always makes us feel good about ourselves. I know this because we did do a few things right. You’re an example of that, are you not? I’m not here to steal your thunder, but when you do well, so do we. After all, you were our idea weren’t you, and we’re still trying to get a little credit for something.
I am in my seventh decade as I write this. I don’t think of the future in the same way as you do anymore. I’ve had my chance and history will, someday, tell if I blew it, or made it, or not. In the end, all of us want one thing out of life more than anything else. To go to our maker, knowing we made a difference in this world. That fifty some years ago, we too stood on high school stages, our faces beaming with pride, with our diplomas in hand, just like you are today. That we, too, had all of these dreams and aspirations you have today, and we never lost sight of those things. Although life didn’t turn out exactly as we wished, in some small way I hope we made this world a better place to live in. That should be your goal in life, too. No, I take that back. Your goal should be to do us one better. To Allie, make us proud sweetheart.
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