Day Thirty-one, After: Uvalde Proud
It is fitting we recognized the one-month mark tonight by watching our Uvalde High School Seniors, Class of 22, graduate at the Honey Bowl. So proud of these young people! Their lives have been put on hold for a month. But tonight, they finally accomplished their goal of walking across the stage and receiving their hard-earned diplomas.
And when you think about what they accomplished during this time of extraordinary grief, sorrow, and pain, well, it renders one speechless. We are in awe. They’ve lost family members, neighbors, and friends. We all did. But most of us had our lives go back to normal, well, the “new normal.” But not the Class of 22. Not for them.
Someone pressed the pause button … again.
Bad enough their sophomore year was put on hold for Covid. Then their junior year saw quarantining from school, sports, and life events. This year was going to be like the old days or PC (Pre-Covid). Yet on May 24th, that all changed.
They met the challenges of the Pandemic, but they became men and women when they patiently and respectfully waited to celebrate their achievement that was twelve years in the making. During the wait, many volunteered to help the hurting families. They paid their respects at visitations and funerals. They prayed and cried which those praying and crying. And tonight, when it was finally their turn to shine, was it all about them?
Nope.
Instead, they remembered the 21 Los Angelitos on their caps, on the special tokens they wore, the loving words they said and prayed. They remembered the 19 children who will never be high school graduates, but forever fourth graders.
They remembered the two teachers who will not applaud from the stadium stands for their students … students who were meant to walk the stage eight years from now in 2030. They remembered … and then they stepped out bravely into THEIR future. We can only pray that one day they will look back and say that all the successes, awards, accomplishments, degrees, careers, art, writings, travels, services … every positive thing they did in their life in the future was because they wanted to make the 21 proud. And then, on that day, on behalf of the 21, we will say, “Thank you.”
#UvaldeStrong #uvaldeproud