'You’ve worked hard to achieve this honor'

Our daughter Samantha Layton is graduating Saturday from Athens High School.

Many seniors are graduating in the days ahead in Athens County.

Congratulations — you’ve worked hard to achieve this honor.

Rather the pontificate and possibly abuse Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” — an often regurgitated and boring commencement speech — I’m just going to share some advice with seniors about how things are really are — life is challenging, unexpected things happen, good and bad, but it’s important to keep moving forward with hope, optimism.

Bear with me for a moment as I struggle, teary eyed, to write this column to my daughter and the Class of 2024.

Samantha was born during a thunderstorm late one August night in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was a long delivery to say the least. I became a man that day.

Though we call North Carolina home, Samantha has also lived in West Virginia, Mississippi, Kentucky and certainly Ohio. Because we moved around a lot, Samantha made me promise her that she would be able to spend her junior and senior years at Athens High School. I kept that promise.

For the last 17 years, soon to be 18, Samantha has been at my side. We’ve gone on great adventures together as we’ve crisscrossed the nation.

Samantha learned to run in West Virginia and has won trophies from many 5k races. She rescued a dog that we still have to this day and organized a pet food drive at her elementary school.

Samantha was in the room when I bought my first house in Wheeling, West Virginia, and many years later, she was there when I bought my last house off the coast.

Often, Samantha served as my navigator on major trips, which included a fortuitous stop in Lexington, Virginia, where the Virginia Military Institute is located.

When we moved to North Carolina, she met lots of friends, whom she still keeps in contact with, and we went to the beach and even learned to sail. We miss Edenton, North Carolina.

In search of better pay, our family begrudgingly moved to Mississippi. No one in our family was a big fan of Mississippi, though we did get to visit Vicksburg and I got to kayak in the big river.

Our family had to split up when I was offered a better paying job in Kentucky.

While my wife Nicole and Samantha’s two brothers stayed behind in Mississippi, Samantha was with me in Kentucky when I was editor of a group of newspapers — she and I lived on the floor of my office until our apartment was ready. And then mostly we continued to stay at the office because the apartment’s heat was awful in a cold Kentucky winter. We lived on grocery store sandwiches and half-price salads because times were tough.

By God’s grace, our family was able to reunite when we moved to Athens about two years ago — a good move for our family, although we do miss Southern food and the beach.

Instead of applying “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” analogies — think about Samantha’s travels for a moment. Not many high school seniors, even in Athens County, can say they’ve attended four high schools like Samantha did — that’s hard, very hard for a kid or any family to do.

Try starting over again and again, embracing new challenges each year — but that’s what life is all about because things can change and do change in the blink of an eye, whether it is accepting a new job, birth of a daughter or son, death of a parent, waiting for your ship to come in, sailing calm seas that turn stormy, marriage, divorce, being loved, being hated, and long walks in the mountains or along sandy shorelines of barrier island beaches off the coast when your mind is at peace or screaming thoughts that no one will ever hear.

Freshman year, Samantha made good grades during that lost year of the pandemic. She even managed to earn a varsity letter in cross country. Samantha knew then that she wanted to attend a military academy, and be a soldier.

Sophomore year, Samantha switched schools twice — Mississippi and Kentucky — to stay with me by my side. She kept up her grades, earned two more varsity letters. She still held true to her dream of serving her country.

During the past two years at Athens High School, Samantha kept up her grades, earned more varsity letters, attended Ohio University’s College Credit Plus Program, made many friends and discovered Athens — one of our favorite places to live.

But also during our time in Athens, Bidenomics took hold as gas, food and housing prices surged. We are familiar with food pantries and free lunches because times are tight again for our family and many other families in these uncertain times.

Despite everything, Samantha was accepted to the college of her choice — Virginia Military Institute — and received a big scholarship too.

Through all that, Samantha never gave up on hope, her optimism, work ethic or her dreams — that’s inspiring for me and may be for the Class of 2024 more so than a speech by some talking head who has never done any “real” living; never knows what life is like on the other side of the tracks, always had a steady paycheck and a stellar career path; the type who thinks it’s all — only — about them.

Seniors — you must stay true to yourselves, embrace the ones you love and work hard, very hard, to achieve your dreams. Expect to fail and expect things to change, for better or worse. Be strong enough to roll with the punches and keep going. Failure and defeat are powerful lessons and will make you stronger. Success is not a given and deserve has got nothing to do with it.

If there’s anything Samantha’s travels have taught me and may inspire you, the Class of 2024 — keep moving forward fearlessly toward your dreams, embrace life’s challenges and you will live a good life and set an example for others that will echo an eternity.

Congratulations!