“Love you, Dellie-baby! I’m so fucking proud!” And another thing, Montgomery’s couldn’t follow rules and they couldn’t keep their mouths shut when it came to their kid’s milestones, as I was reminded at every single ceremony Adele and Mason have been invited to.
“Sit down, Daddy!” Mason tugged on his jacket. If I knew my husband, he ditched the cut and put on his jacket right over his t-shirt and jeans, probably was still wearing motorcycle boots. One eye swept inventory of my spouse and my suspicions were confirmed. He might not wear suits, but he looked fine as hell and watching him brush his hair out of his eyes still made me swoon.
Calvin kissed Mason’s head and then mussed up his hair. After he sat in the seat next to me, he turned, grabbed my face, and planted a seriously sexy kiss on me.
“Mrs. Montgomery, sorry I’m late. The traffic by the airport was a nightmare.”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him, taking his hand. “But where’s your mom? Did she miss her flight?”
“In the ladies for a quick pee and to fix her hair after the bike ride here.” He squeezed my hand and interwoven his fingers with mine like he was accustomed to do.
Sure enough, Meghan appeared at our row and made everyone adjust again to let her come through.
“Excuse me, thank you, my grand-daughter is graduating first in her class,” she gushed to the other attendees.
Fox shook his head in embarrassment. He was flanked by my parents who were all decorum, my mother with a bouquet of a dozen roses sitting in her lap. Charlie brought sunflowers which were more up Adele’s aisle.
But when Adele stepped to the mic and began talking, we all fell into complete silence.
“Where you’ve been has informed where you’re going. Not everyone likes to hear that, and I understand why. We don’t always choose our circumstances and a lot of life’s trials and tribulations can be hard to bear. Sometimes we want to run away from our pasts and forget who we were. That’s exactly what a lot of us going away to school this fall will be trying to do.
But one thing we don’t take into consideration when we try to outrun our pasts, is that it takes reflection and lessons learned to progress, to grow as a human, and make the right choices for our futures. We leave here today, throwing our hats off to South Vale high, and a lot of us will scream ‘good riddance’ and never look back. But I’d like to suggest a different way of looking at it. You can’t get where you’re going without being honest with yourself about who you are.
Take my family for instance.” Calvin swallowed audibly and Fox’s head went back into his hand. “We’re certainly not perfect. You probably know my family’s story, since it’s almost like folklore in this area. My grandfather Kraft was Chief of Police, and my grandfather Montgomery was the town’s most notorious criminal. It was like the Capulets and Montagues in our very own South Vale. To make matters worse, Adler Kraft, my uncle, had perished in a motorcycle accident and my grandfather Monty wasn’t only president of the local MC, but he also owned the dealership. On the surface, not a great match. But star-crossed lovers always find their path.”
“But my parents connected immediately, with a bond so tenacious, not even a long prison term could break it. They stayed true to who they were, but they also fought like hell to become who they wanted to be. They never once gave up on each other, and they used their rocky pasts to gain even more conviction about what they did and didn’t want in their lives.”
“I’m not saying my parents are perfect.” Fox groaned loud enough for everyone in the row to hear.
“But my parents are happy and that doesn’t just grow on trees. They embraced their pasts, the lessons they learned, the mistakes they made, and this place and these people are what sculpted them. So whether you grew up in South Vale or in Desolation, whether you screwed up royally on your path here to graduation or just had a bumpy road, take those downfalls and turn them into stepping stones. Let them guide you and inform the picture of where you do, or where you don’t want to go.
My mom and dad sit here before me today, perfect examples of overcoming adversity and paving their own way. We can all do that, too. The power is in our hands. So take your diploma and leave, but never forget where you came from.”
Calvin was up out of his chair, his applause thundered with tears streaming down his face. I rose, too, hung onto my husband and cried openly.
“Music is what I do best, so I’d like to serenade you all, with a song I learned on my father’s guitar.”