This cutie, Trinity and her mom, Markeeter Knox gave me a reason to skip out on a meeting this morning. You see they invited my daughter, Haelee and I to graduation at Rock Hill Virtual Academy. You may recall that both Haelee and I paid author visits to their school earlier in the year. With that being the case, I nor she would’ve missed out on this momentous occasion for the world particularly given that Trinity looks up to Haelee.
Seeing the joy on all of the children and their respective parents faces as they received their diplomas brought back special memories for me As a parent. That in itself was the highlight of my day.
The irony is that I thought that I could sit quietly in the audience with Haelee and cheer from afar but their teacher Ms. Rita invited me to speak as she activated my microphone. I started to say, “I have nothing” like Whitney Houston because I was unprepared. I could tell however that they really wanted me to say something so I thanked them for giving me an excuse to miss work for awhile, allowing my Haelee and myself into their classroom, and allowing us to be a part of graduation. I also let them know that I’ve saw all of their artwork and their progression over the year and that I knew from that they were future leaders. I let them know that my generation failed them in many ways with respect to all that’s going on with the world but that it’s okay because God empowered them to fix it. And that they will. I let them know that they should never look up to an athlete or an entertainer as a role model and that they should start at home. If one can’t be found at home look above the hills. And finally I told them that I’ll be watching from earth beaming with pride as they shoot past the stratosphere into the stars in exceeding me and everyone that they know in life.
I pray that they took not only what I said to heart, also but what their teacher, parents, and other visitors said as well. Congratulations Trinity and all your classmates. And great job Markeeter. You did that!!
Oh yeah and Trinity is in the midst of writing her first ever children‘s book. I’ve heard that it just might feature her mentor. Be on the lookout for it this summer. I most certainly am. And if you happened to have missed out on our previous experiences with them, you can catch up by clicking on the related articles below.
