Dear Class of 2020

Your road has been hard

Dear Class of 2020

Full of hardships galore

And potholes a’plenty

You started this life

During our country’s hardest hours

Just months after the fall of

Our mighty Twin Towers

Clear bookbags at school

and security checks abound

Became your reality

And the norm all around.

A nation torn apart

By politics and war

You saw how these things

Shook us all to the core.

But adversity is what shaped you

Into who you’ve grown to be

And what seems like forever now,

Is just a page out of your great story

For one day you’ll look back

In this time in your life,

As you tell your own children

Of the struggle and strife

Your teachers never got

To tell you goodbye

Y’all have missed out on so much

For that, I won’t lie

But soon you’ll be off

On your very own

After 18 short years,

You’re just about grown

So relish this time

However long it may be

And soak up every minute

With your friends and family

Despite what you’ve lost

This is truly a treasure

Notwithstanding being stripped

Of your senior year’s pleasure

You’ve been gifted time

And a chance to just rest

Don’t waste a second

And you’ll pass this final test

You’ll come out even stronger

There’s no doubt in my mind

More perceptive and grateful

Tenatious and kind.

You’ll forever be remembered

In all of history

As that class who endured

Just you wait and see

So be bold and courageous

As you head out the door

You’ve got the world behind you

The love of family, friends and more.

~ Kat Butler