This
is the season, isn’t it? Kids donning their caps and gowns. Proudly displaying
their honor stoles and cords and medallions. Parents excited, nervous, sad-
all of it.
As
parents, we remember their first steps, their first words. We calmed their fears
when bad dreams intruded on an otherwise peaceful sleep. We watched nervously
from the window as they drove off for the first time with their newly earned
license in their wallet or purse. We hugged and kissed them when
hearts were broken, when games were won or lost. We stood on the sidelines and
cheered them on. We helped buy their prom dress, their new shirt. We encouraged
and at times, we discouraged. All within our role as parents.
This
is the season, isn’t it? Except that this year, it isn’t so much like that.
Social
distancing. Masks. No crowds. Not much pomp and a whole lot of circumstance,
just not the good kind.
The
class of 2020 has lost so much, but gained much, too.
They
lost their senior dinner dance. Prom. The senior picnic. The A Honor Luncheon.
The Yearbook Breakfast. The senior parade through the hallways. A live version
of senior scholarship night.
Yet,
they gained . . . hopefully.
A
sense of what life is about. A newly forged perspective. An appreciation of
family, of what they have, what others might not have. They’ve cemented a
permanent place in history by graduating through a pandemic, a virus that has
taken its toll on life, the economy, the things we take so much for granted.
And
through it all, they move forward.
Commencement.
I
tell each class at the beginning of my address to them that commencement means
to move forward. It is a beginning, not an ending. Seniors leave one life
behind only to begin another. One door shuts and another opens. A door to work,
to college, to the military. The door of childhood and adolescence closes and
the door to the onset of adulting opens.
This
year is my last as principal. A sad way to end a career. A sad way to celebrate
such a momentous occasion as commencement. My life, like theirs, moves forward.
Like theirs, we don’t know what the future holds. We hope. We dream. We suppose.
And yes, we fear or are at least anxious.
This
week at various times and on various days, our seniors will walk the stage. I
will declare them graduates. I will have them turn the tassel signifying such.
They will have pictures taken with family and a few friends. Their time, their
moment, even if for only a few minutes.
They
will remember this year, their commencement. Just as my generation told our kids
about the Vietnam War, they will tell their kids about the graduation that wasn’t
what they or their parents had hoped for. The graduation in the midst of virus
and protest. I am sad for them. I am proud of them. So much to offer. So much
more to life. So much. Something to think about . . .
Live
Your Life, and Make A Difference!
To
My Readers:
My
new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov. 12, 2020! It is a
contemporary psychological thriller using some of the same characters from my
previous work. It takes place on the Navajo Nation Reservation in northeast
Arizona.
Below
is the book blurb. Pretty excited about it.
Integrity
is protecting someone who betrayed you. Courage is keeping a promise even
though it might mean death.
A
late-night phone call turns what was to be a fun hunting trip into a deadly
showdown. Fifteen-year-old brothers George Tokay, Brian Evans and Brett
McGovern face death on top of a mesa on the Navajo Nation Reservation in
Arizona. They have no idea why men are intent on killing them.
Betrayed
is a contemporary psychological thriller and an exploration of the heart and of
a blended family of adopted kids, their relationships to each other and their
parents woven into a tight thriller/mystery.
“Once
again, author Joseph Lewis has written a fast-paced psychological thriller
mystery that immerses readers into a dark world few encounter.”
—
Joan Livingston, author of the Isabel Long Mystery Series
“Betrayed
is at once an emotional chapter in author Joseph Lewis’ continuing
coming-of-age story and an intriguing thriller. Following both law enforcement
and a group of teens searching for a missing boy on Native American land,
Lewis’ latest also provides a unique view into Navajo culture. A layered story
that explodes into a bullet-riddled climax.”
—
Rick Treon, award-winning author of Deep Background and Let the Guilty Pay
Connect
with me on Social Media:
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Spiral
Into Darkness:
Named
a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He
blends in. He is successful, intelligent and methodical. He has a list and has
murdered eight on it so far. There is no discernible pattern. There are no
clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go
on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send
a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and
damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea
they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local
law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught
in a Web:
A
PenCraft Literary Award Winner!
The
bodies of high school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of
heroin and fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the
Milwaukee Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El
Salvador. Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is
cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has
an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had
killed his cousin the previous summer.
Detectives
Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the
drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else,
especially George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the
ring has its roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Caught
in a Web is now available in Audio format. You can find it
at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
Book
One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two
thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six
men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity,
are in danger and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no
clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them.
http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A
14-year-old boy knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or
by whom. Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his
family. http://tinyurl.com/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis
The
Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI
Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of
six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they
don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern,
and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys
become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand.
The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives
are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
Photo
is of the Class of 2016, Stafford High School.
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Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe