R&R Hot Stove - Graduation 2022

GOOD MONDAY AFTERNOON EVERYONE!

As per usual in the last little while, I am the ‘late’ Sandra Young Kolbuc for getting my blog into the universe. Busy as all get out! What was it this time??? Hilltop High School; Graduation 2022!   

This week I had the distinct pleasure of being a grandmother in the stands watching with delight as my first born grandchild crossed the stage to receive his diploma and of course we celebrated his achievements all weekend! The Scott Safety Arena was packed on June 30th and the pride and excitement of many friends and family of the over 130 graduates filled the air. I did not know, as I watched the tribe of beautiful young people cross the stage to receive their diplomas that Tracy Stark, one such friend of many whose children were graduating and good friend of many kids themselves… was in the building. This year -2022- was the year between Ryder whose graduation year would have been 2021 and Radek’s year which would be in 2023. Tracy had watched many of these young people grow up with Ryder and Radyk since the boys’ kindergarten days! Partway through the ceremony I received a text from my writing partner congratulating my handsome grandson, Gavin Kolbuc Stark, who had played hockey with both Tracy’s boys - on his achievement.  

“God!  That woman is courageous” I thought and texted back “Are you here?”  Naturally in typical Tracy style I did not receive an immediate reply but was very moved by her text.  As if that beautiful message filled with hearts was not enough to bring tears to my eyes, the next series of events definitely was... At the end of the speech by the Hilltop Valedictorian, the young scholar in question completed his address by doing a back flip in the air to end his speech! My heart began to race and my tears came again as I processed what I had just witnessed by this phenomenal young graduate. 

Then the words Tracy and I had constructed in the final chapter of Gross Misconduct: Hitting From Behind came to life in my mind as I thought of the end of the last chapter in our book where Tracy Stark’s message to the Class of 2021 - Ryder’s year - is profiled. 

Quote “I am honored to watch classmates of Ryder Patrick exit Hilltop High School as High School graduates.  Of course I wish with all my heart that Ryder too was shaking the hand of Hilltop’s Principal, holding his diploma high in his other hand and, in Ryder style, probably doing a flip off the stage….” 

Wow!  That profound gesture at the end of the 2022 Valedictory address had me trembling in my chair as the crowd roared at the athleticism of the young academic on the stage.  I wondered what was going thru Tracy’s mind if she were there… and if she had felt that same rush of energy as I did when she witnessed the flip!

There is a quote I often use when I speak of young people who like Ryder and Radek die long before their ‘time” It is simply this... "THEY DIED MUCH TOO YOUNG…..SO I GUESS WE HAD BETTER DO SOME LIVING FOR THEM."

Thanks for the flip young graduate! Nailed it! As you go forward to live your life out loud, may it be filled with many more incredible moments on behalf of young men and women, like Ryder and Radek, that have ‘gone too soon’.

HAPPY GRADUATION EVERYONE!
 
AND REMEMBER the book Gross Misconduct Hitting From Behind is available in many venues detailed on the R & R Legacy Facebook page and will be available in Sangudo this coming Saturday, July 9th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Deep Creek Market.  We will have books on hand to sell as well as R&R Merch and I will be on hand for book signings. Let’s turn on the sun that day!  Hope you will stop by and say hello!

                                                                                                                        LOVE SANDRA

Sandra and her eldest grandson at his graduation