Address to the Class of 2021
Before I begin my address to the Smithfield High School graduating class of 2021, I’ll tell you what this speech will not include: thoughts on the pandemic, masks, vaccinations, or social distancing. Instead, I have chosen to focus on what brings us together as a community and gives us hope for the future.
Many of the families in this room chose to live in Smithfield because they knew it was a safe community with good schools. It may not have been an easy decision, since less expensive housing was available elsewhere but sacrifices were made for the good of the children – children who are now young adults who will soon move from being beneficiaries to benefactors – from those who others have cared for to those who care for others.
Someone among these graduates may work in a nursing home, taking care of a beloved member of our family. Another might repair a roof that keeps us warm and dry. A math-loving graduate will become an accountant, helping us with our own business or personal financial decisions. An individual may become a firefighter, saving the lives of an elderly couple trapped in a house fire. There are future teachers, police officers, artists, musicians, chefs, nurses, doctors, hairdressers, plumbers, electricians, and truck drivers among our graduates. Not all will be heroes but all can be good friends and neighbors and community-oriented people who vote and volunteer, observing laws and practicing good judgement.
Many of the graduates in this room will choose to live in Smithfield or other such communities because they know them to be safe and have good schools. It may not be an easy decision, since less expensive housing will be available elsewhere but sacrifices will be made for the good of the children – children who will become young adults who will then move from being beneficiaries to benefactors – from those who others have cared for to those who care for others. They will attend the graduation ceremonies of their children, as their parents do now and their grandparents did before them. Such is the cycle of life that brings us together as a community and gives us hope for the future.
While it may sound not overly exciting, these lives will be peppered with travel, celebrations, accomplishments and, most importantly, love. My hope for the Class of 2021 is for them to find themselves in the same positions as their parents are today, members of a wonderful community celebrating the accomplishments of their children and helping them to move from beneficiaries to benefactors.
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