And since crises, unfortunately, don’t come with a one-at-a-time rule, some students had more than a scary virus heaped on their plate, losing parents or developing serious health conditions. A whole whack of others suffered with deep mental health issues — challenges that many will, sadly, undoubtedly carry with them into their post-secondary lives and maybe beyond.
Midway through the ceremony the principal said a few words, reflecting on the importance of kindness above all other things a human could be and sharing a teary story about how his parents had cared for his aging grandfather to illustrate the humanity of compassion. His reflections were touching, certainly, and by the amount of sniffles that could be heard throughout the crowd, his words had touched many in the audience. But it was the next speaker who made the deepest impression.
She was introduced as the mother of a boy who used to attend the school. She was there, the principal said, like she was every year on graduation day, to give $1,000 to the student voted by their peers to be the most kind. When she got to the podium, she told the story of her son, who died after being hit by a TTC bus.
She described how comforting it was for her, in the days following his death, to hear from others how kind he had been to them, how he was always eager to help and that for some kids, he was their only friend. And so, she said, every year, she honours and remembers his life by recognizing kindness in a graduating student.
Confusing, distressing emotions are a part of change
I found out later that her son died in 2010. That means she has stood at that podium, staring out into a crowd of weepy parents on the very same stage that he didn’t have the chance to stand on, more than 10 times. That’s a lot of painful reminders. It was a nudge for the rest of us to recognize our good fortune that, yes, we’ve made it this far, thank goodness. It was also duly noted that, this mom, who lost her son so tragically, had found a way to lighten the darkness of her grief by bringing brightness to the spirits of others.
But her words, a powerful combination of personal loss and encouragement, further complicated the emotions of an already-complicated day.