"Men and Women for Others"

Tomorrow is June 1. Which means it has been a year since I graduated from high school. For those of you who don't know, I gave the commencement address at graduation. I've been told I did a bang up job on it. I don't remember graduation day as well as I would like; as we now know, I had a blood infection for which I would be admitted to the Cleveland Clinic less than 24 hours later. There is the video tape. My father and his mother both taped it. My dad, however, taped it with the same camcorder that he used to tape the day my sister first came home from the hospital, sixteen (16!) years ago. You know how on sitcoms, they do flashbacks and someone has a cell phone the size of a phone book and the audience laughs and laughs? Well, that's the purpose this camcorder serves. So my Nani also taped it with her nearly-new camera (Hi Nani!). And then at my graduation party she taped my infant twin cousins ... over my speech. And then she taped over that with a family reunion (Love you, Nani!). All in all, the video tape doesn't quite live up to what I would like. Ha.

Anyway, I'm a little upset that LeBron and those other guys lost. It's unbelievable; it's like magic or something. Ha. In place of a new topic, I thought I'd simply post a copy of my commencement address. Enjoy!

{I was introduced by Mr. Hassman. I thanked him, and then I welcomed everyone to graduation, but all of that was handwritten on the speech because I didn't think about saying anything like that until the morning of graduation. I still have the copy of the speech that I folded up and shoved in my pocket just in case, by some miracle, the copy I put on the podium was gone by the time I got up there. Ha.}

"Throughout the past four years at Walsh Jesuit High School, five words have been spoken more than any others: “Men and Women for Others.” The Walsh motto was engraved in our minds on the first day of freshman year. When you pull into the parking lot, the sign says “Men and Women for Others.” The Walsh homepage reads, “Men and Women for Others.” The Walsh Mission Statement ends, “We strive to be men and women for others.” When we hear the phrase “men and women for others,” we immediately think of acting with someone else’s interests in mind, with no regard for our own benefit. We imagine ourselves as a superhero flying through New York City stopping bad guys and saving good guys, or we are a soldier fighting the enemy to protect the innocent, or we are a regular guy helping an old lady with her groceries. In our minds, we are always the “Man” or the “Woman,” but we never imagine ourselves as being the “Other.” I had the unique experience of being the “Other.”

"While we listen to the administration urging us to be “Men and Women for Others,” we are usually daydreaming. I tended to daydream about senior year and how awesome it would be. When it finally arrived, it was everything I could have hoped for. I was having a blast with cross-country, my car was, well, at least I had a car, I had a low-paying job that I hated, and I had a great group of friends. I liked all of my teachers and had nearly zero homework on any given night. Homecoming came and went. The Indians made a run through the playoffs and lost. I finished all of my college applications.

"And then it happened. I don’t exactly know how, and I certainly don’t know why, but for whatever reason, at 12:43 am November 2, 2007 my life came crashing down all around me. I went to the hospital that Friday morning, I remember talking to my dad a little in the emergency room, and the next thing I know it’s Sunday morning, my stomach is killing me, and I’m in a hospital in Pittsburgh. Friday morning, it is believed that my small intestine wrapped itself around my mesenteric artery, cutting off its own blood supply. I had to have most of my small intestine removed. When I woke up, I had wires going in and out of my body and I was scared to death because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next; but through all of that one thing gave me solace.

"Three of my best friends came into the ICU to say, “hey.” They heard I was going to a hospital in Pittsburgh, and they drove two hours to be there with me. Of course, they had to go home that night for school the next day, but a few days later, they came back, with another friend of mine. Not only did they come back, but they brought cards from my classmates, and a letter from my favorite teacher. Then they left. And a few days later, even more of my friends came to see me. I was in the Pittsburgh hospital for two weeks, and I never went more than three days without seeing someone from Walsh.

"When I finally went home, I still wasn’t anywhere near being strong enough to get back to school. Still, every couple of days a few people from Walsh would come over just to hang out for a few hours. We didn’t do anything special, I couldn’t do much more than watch TV, but they continued to come over, making sure I knew that I was still a part of the group.

"I ended up missing over 40 days of school, but when I came back, each and every one of my teachers showed me kindness, compassion, and understanding of my situation. I had incredible extensions, exemptions, and exceptions made for me, and I appreciated every single one so much.

"My life has been stressful since November 2. I’ve had to deal with a lot of stuff that I never thought I’d ever have to do. I’ve had most of an organ removed. I’ve been life-flighted to Pittsburgh. I’ve endured the pain of 7 different kidney stones. I’ve missed 42 days of school. I’ve had half credit taken off a homework assignment for being absent, twice. I left winter formal early because the bass was so loud it sent shivers down the scar tissue in my abdomen. I’ve had to stay home from a trip to London, England. And I still had to be ready for three AP tests this May. But through all of that there was one constant: support from the Men and Women of the Walsh community. Friends, teachers, the administration, even people I didn’t know stopped in the hall to ask how I was doing, offered to cut me some slack if I needed it, and never let me forget how happy they were I was OK. And I am OK. As soon as my surgeon saw my family and friends in the Pittsburgh waiting room, he told my parents that I would be OK. I would be normal again, thanks to the love and support I had all around me. When you’re feeling down, think about that. Think about your family and friends, think about how much they love you, think about how much they support you. And then thank them.

"In that spirit, I thank God and you, Walsh, thank you for everything. Thank you to my mom, dad, and sister, and the rest of my family. Thank you to all the teachers who empathized with the struggles of high school. Thank you Mr. Lee, Mr. Grescovich, and Senor Gaone for being so awesome. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and well-wishes. Thank you Matt, Andy, Steven, Katy, Dan, Kyle, Catherine, Maria, Metzger, Coffey, Kurtz, Brittany, and everybody else who made the trip to Pittsburgh. I’m going to miss all of you next year. I can only hope that I can find friends half as great as you all. So, thank you Walsh Jesuit. Thank you for being “Men and Women for Others.” Thank you for being “Men and Women for Me.” "

June 1, 2008.

-The Intestineless Wonder