"At a young age, most would say I was blessed with an eidetic memory. At the age of two, I did not need my parents to read me a bedtime story because I could do it myself. I remembered all the stories that they read me. I was three years old when I first laid my eyes on periodic table. Later that same night, I told both my parents what I learned. They were amazed and I think my father was a little scared." She earns a little laughter from the crowd before her. "I was four years old when I came home from school on the bus, excited to see my mom and dad and tell them about the very first friend I made. I was only greeted by the sight of my crying father in his favorite blue sweatshirt and a policeman."
The crowd of twenty five teenagers and the families is silent and she takes a deep breath. "Most say I am blessed with a photographic memory. But I do disagree with that. I am not telling you the story of my mothers passing but lessons that I learned with her passing."
She doesn't need to look at the crowd to know that her family is in shock. She knew this is the last thing, anyone would think she talk about this.
"Like most, if something tragic happens to you, you remember it. But I have had the pleasure to remember every single moment from getting off the bus, to my father holding me so tight that I couldn't breath, to packing my favorite bright blue neon teddy bear that my mother in my dad's suburban and driving to Tree Hill."
She puts her hands to her side as she closes her eyes for a moment.
"Sometimes life sucks! And if this wasn't a high school graduation with little ears and parents around, I would use much stronger words than that." Those three words peak interest from the crowd. "You see, I learned at a young age life does suck. The world is not perfect as much as you wish, dream, or hope for these things. Things happen that you never expect happen. My mother's unexpected death changed the course of my life. Also my fathers, my uncle, my aunts, my cousins. I left my home of four years in the state of New York and came to the place we adore, Tree Hill."
She hears one or two people in the crowd cheer when Tree Hill is mentioned. "I learned at four years old, you have to roll with the punches and give life everything you got because it is worth living." The crowd laughs and the teenager speaking kind of smiles and relaxes. This is not as bad as she feared.
She doesn't see her dad in the crowd wipe tears in his eyes and whispers to his brother beside him, that he is so proud.
"As now graduates of this one of a kind high school, most of us are either saying goodbye or saying see a later to the city we call all must remember a few things in the years to come." She slides a piece of a hair that's hanging in her face behind her ear. "Remember the one that you have lost because they are always in your heart. And they will always love you." She looks down the first row where her best friend should of sat. "You should remember in tough times, you still deserve to treat yourself. So order that pizza, buy that movie. Life is only so short, do not follow anyone else's dreams but your own dreams. Do what makes you happy. Love. Laugh. Most importantly, do not take for granted the people you have in your life. I was only four when I lost my mother, but I know I appreciated every moment I had with her. I appreciate her memory."
She smiles sweetly. "I mean, I am only seventeen. So who I am to give any advice to anyone." She kinda of laughs. "Before my nice longer than I thought speech would end, I would like to leave you with a quote my father told me once,"
"Happiness comes in many forms – in the company of good friends, in the feeling you get when you make someone else's dream come true, or in the promise of hope renewed. It's okay to let yourself be happy because you never know how fleeting that happiness might be."She speaks once more, "Be happy, my fellow graduates!"
Every single member of the crowd before her stands up, cheers, yells and claps. She smiles, saying thank you in the microphone before heading off the stage.
* Words *
"Sawyer Brooke Scott!" A voice yells from a distant when the ceremony is through, the voice belonged to Tree Hill native, Lucas Scott. The seventeen year old turns on her heels, greets her father with a smile. When they are feet apart, Lucas wraps his arms around his little girl and squeezes.
Sawyer laughs. "Dad! Put me down. Put me down." He listens to her, setting her on the ground gently. "Where is the rest of the family? They made it right?"
He nods. "They did." He smiles again, sadly this time. "I can't believe you are graduated from high school now. I am so proud of you, Sawyer."
She blushes, immediately. "Daddddd….." She whines, moving her hands to cover her face.
"No. No. No. You will stand there and listen to what I have to tell you. It is important and you need to hear it." Lucas begins to say. "I am so proud of you. If your mother was here, she would say the same thing. We are both so proud of the person you became. This amazing, smart, beautiful young woman. I love you. I am not sure how I raised such a one of a kind woman, how you are so wise beyond your age." He watches his daughter, blush looking down to the ground. "The speech was wonderful too. Again….I am just so proud."
Sawyer whispers, "Thank you, daddy." She hugs him tightly as the family joins them.
In the Scott family, today was a good day.