(Editor’s Note: I was fortunate last weekend to speak at the homecoming pep chapel of my alma mater, Centerville High School in Centerville, Iowa. I received the Centerville Schools Foundation Alumnus of the Year award. The following is a small portion of my talk aimed at the senior class. I thought it was also fitting for our Husky seniors. You can insert local names to give this a Sweet Home flavor.)
As I look out at the Class of 2003 I have a special affinity for you. You will graduate 30 years after my class, counting among you my niece, Jackie.
I want you to think about the number 29,200 and I’ll get back to that later.
During the past year, our nation has talked much about heroes. For some of you, a hero could be a pro basketball player who earns millions and whose tennis shoes cost $150 or some singer with a ring in his nose whose CDs sell for $20 each.
I’m going to tell you today that the real heroes in this world are the folks I just mentioned.
They are your parents, your mentors, your teachers, coaches and the many volunteers who keep Centerville moving forward.
Each day, some 2000 families in southern Iowa and northern Missouri should breathe a sigh of relief that heroes like Bob Beck, Boyd O’Bryant, Bob Malmberg and others devoted many years of their lives to shifting the economy of Centerville from coal mining to industry.
It took vision, dedication, time and money to reach that goal, one that everyone of you in this auditorium today should be thankful for. Without those jobs, the income they generate and the tax dollars they represent, this community and others surrounding Centerville would be far different.
Most local hreos will never earn a million dollars in their lifetime, yet each invests an inordinate amount of time and money into you, your town, your school, your extracurricular activities.
They are your elementary school teacher who spends extra time with you to make sure you can read well or the high school teacher who works tirelessly to prep you for the college entrance exam.
They are your baseball coach who works all day in a factory and then spends his nights and weekends teaching you the fine art of the game.
They are men like Lyle Hellyer who had the vision to turn a bunch of rag tag college classes scattered all over town into Indian Hills Community College and enrich the lives of thousands of young people over the last 50 years or so.
Without IHCC, many young persons in this community would never have been able to attain a college education and ultimately a better life.
They are businessmen like Jim Irelan and the Reznicek family who own anchor stores on the Centerville square that help this community maintain a uniqueness and a character.
They are men like my brother Tony who work 10-12 hours each day in a factory so they can afford to rear their children on a farm and work their cows on nights and weekends.
They are your 4-H leaders, your Sunday School teachers and the folks who work hard to bring industry to this community and keep it alive and growing so that your parents can earn a living and put food on your table and Air Jordans on your feet.
I am a capitalist.
I invest money in businesses and real estate in the hopes that it will return a profit.
Until this point, you have been on the receiving end of life. But that will soon change.
Oh, sure, your parents have told you that you’re cute and cuddly and wonderful. But the truth is, we only tell kids that because we are investing in our own future.
We know that someday, you’re going to have to take care of us and we want you to think kindly about your early years.
Just as we wiped the drool off your face while you were in the crib, so too you will for us as we fall asleep in front of the TV set.
Go ahead, ask your folks about it tonight. They’ll look at each other in amazement, realizing that you now know the secret they have tried to hide from you for so many years.
In a few months, we will begin seeking a return on our investment in you.
Upon your graduation, you are expected to begin paying back all those kindesses extended upon you for the last 18 years.
Some of you will go off to college and will postpone the day of reckoning another four years. Others will begin work and start their adult lives.
In any case, your world will change and you will be on the giving rather than the receiving end of life. Although you might enter this new phase with great trepidation, rest assured it is rewarding.
Enjoy every minute of your senior year. Try new things. Don’t let negative people rain on your parade, today or throughout your life.
If you’ve always wanted to try out for the drama club…do it. Want to try pitching instead of catching? Go ahead. The only thing in life holding you back is fear. Overcome it and move forward. So, someone might laugh at you–who cares?
Although I hope your high school years have been outstanding, I cringe when I hear persons my age tell others that high school is the best time of their life.
The truth is, every day of your life should be the best, not just the four years you’ve spent here.
If you wake up 10, 20 or even 30 years from today and find yourself wishing you were in high school again, you’re living your life wrong.
That’s where the number 29,200 comes in.
If the average person lives to be 80 years old, he or she gets 29,200 days–or as I see them opportunities– to change his life for the better or enrich the lives of others.
Your decision today is whether you will invest the majority of those opportunities as a giver or a taker in this world.
Will your tombstone say that you gave of yourself for the betterment of others or will it simply say here lies Johnny Jones, he sucked in oxygen and spewed out carbon dioxide for 80 years?
When the Good Lord calls you home he will ask you how you used the many talents he gave you at birth.
Will you be able to give him a positive accounting or will you mumble about how life was unfair?
It is my fervent hope that you choose to be a giver and not a taker and that you take advantage of every single opportunity each day brings forth and that in doing so you find true and everlasting happiness.
My wish for all of you is a successful, fulfilling, challenging and happy life…and of course a homecoming win tonight over Central Lee.
Homecomings are special at every high school in this great nation but there is no better homecoming anywhere than a Big Red homecoming.
I again thank all of you for this award and for supporting me and my entire family in our quest for a better life.
For that and much more, you are my heroes today and always.