The African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child,” but I say it also takes a village to bring one to graduation. It takes getting up early to get the children to school on time. It takes having enough soap and detergent and deodorant and lotion and Vaseline and hair products and toothpaste. It takes coming home from an eight hour workday plus a two hour commute to cook dinner and check homework and not just look to see the assignment, but whether or not it is done correctly and completely. It takes helping them with their schoolwork, and if you don’t understand it, you get the help first. It takes leaving work early or taking a day off so you can get them to their wellness checkups so they can stay healthy and don’t have to miss school and an important test whether for third grade spelling or the ANET, NWEA, or ACT. It takes making them a good breakfast or getting them to school early so a growling stomach doesn’t distract them from what they know.
It takes checking their backpacks for trash but more importantly, finding old graded papers you never saw so you can help them correct the answers they got wrong. It takes scraping down deep into your pockets and purses and under couches to dig up $11 for a field trip. It takes going to report card pickup and getting to know their teachers and mandatory meetings. It takes supporting them in every possible way not just sometimes, but every day. It takes a whole support system.
After my oldest daughter graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Education, we were in the parking lot walking toward the car. I heard some laughter and looked over to see a graduate walking with his arm around an older man. What I heard epitomizes the African proverb. The graduate said loudly, “Eh, man! Thanks for giving me gas money to get to school!”
So here’s to all the mothers, fathers, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandmothers, grandfathers, Godparents and neighbors down the street that helped a graduate reach that light at the end of the tunnel.
Congratulations, Graduates of Twenty-Eighteen!
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