The students’ families have lived in the Washington Twp. neighborhood for years and Gretchen Feldmeyer, mom of Wesley, said the parents knew they had to do something memorable.
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“I’ve been on the brink of tears a lot the last several weeks,” Feldmeyer said. “Wesley hasn’t even graduated yet and as it gets closer he gets more bummed out. … I just decided there was something we could do to make it better. It’s not the same, but it’s something. They’re smiling today, it’s so nice to see that.”
Dozens of neighbors circled the cul-de-sac, socially distanced at the ends of their driveways, with noise makers, balloons, bubbles as they watched the seniors ceremoniously walk down the street towards the makeshift stage. A professional sound system was set up, a program was passed out and speeches were made.
“Graduation is often coupled with uncertainty, but for us 2020 grads, the world that we are marching into has never been this unpredictable,” Holt said. “While many of us mourn our missed milestones, I‘ve learned it’s not necessary to wait for grief to pass to experience joy.”
The graduates’ speeches all shared a certain sentiment that this plan-B graduation has more than made up for a lost ceremony with their whole class.
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“This doesn’t look as we envisioned, and for me, those things that I’m missing — The Shoe (Ohio Stadium), singing Carmen Ohio with my best friends — all of these things I miss. But this, this right here, has more than made up for that. The pandemic has unified us and given us the timeless adage of love your neighbor as yourself.”
Pre-coronavirus, where principals and class presidents would have traditionally given speeches, parents filled in the gap with speeches about their children and life advice for the graduates.
“The changes that we’ve been asked to make are not to benefit us, it’s to benefit everyone else,” said Ben Feldmeyer, dad of Wesley. “We aren’t staying home because it’s good for us, we’re staying home because it’s good for everybody else. Overtime you may find life is actually like that.”
The ceremony finished with the turning of tassels and a toast.
“They were surrounded by the people they grew up around,” Feldmeyer said. “I’m just really thankful the weather held out and I’m really thankful we pulled it off.”
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