An Extended Dedication

All parents were asked to submit two pictures of their son or daughter plus a dedication for the graduating class yearbook. I started writing the latter and then saw that it should be limited to 35 words. The two previous sentences alone contained more than that, so you can see that given my tendency to wax poetic, it was insufficient. Here is the extended version.

I begin by borrowing lines from the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull. This book has always held special significance as it is a story about life, flight, and the quest for something more than the ordinary.

“To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said,”you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived…” Jason, know that we are very proud of what you have already accomplished. We know that you have the determination to succeed. Know that we will always support you in all your future endeavors.

The same rule holds for us now, of course: we choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing , and the next is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome”

You will need to learn how to swim in a bigger pond. We hope that these past nine years have given you a solid foundation, and the knowledge that you can tackle whatever life throws at you. Always be receptive to learning, that is the only way to grow. My daily prayer is that may God always grant you the wisdom to distinguish the difference between right and wrong, and the strength to do what is right always.

“Jason Mapa, you have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way. It is the Law of the Great Gull, the Law that Is.” Congratulations on your graduation. We love you.