Mark’s Musings – May 30, 2018

Mark Fortune

Graduation and all the pomp and circumstance that accompanies it makes May a special time of the year. Whether your youngster is walking across the stage at a college or university, high school, or maybe even taking their first big step into school from pre-school it is a life moment to remember.

I am sure that most people – regardless of their age – can recall the day that they walked across the stage at their high school or college graduation despite the number of years that have passed. This might be a good time to jot down some of those memories in a journal. I think some people still do that.

Talk to your parents, grandparents and other family members. Use your smart phone for something valuable and record their thoughts. Or utilize a hand held recorder. You will cherish those words and maybe more importantly their voice for the rest of your life. Remember that everyone has dreams and wants to aspire to do great things and that certainly included the people of the Greatest Generation, the Boomer generation and others.

You might be surprised to hear what their goals were. This is especially true of the World War II era graduates. I think it would be important as a family to collect their thoughts as the number of living veterans from those years is dwindling daily. I am confident you will not regret doing this.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics about 3.6 million students are expected to graduate from high school in 2018 including 3.3 million from public high schools and .3 million from private high schools. Colleges and universities will award 1 million associates degrees this spring, 1.9 million bachelor’s degrees, 759,000 master’s degrees and 179,000 doctor’s degrees. Interesting and impressive numbers but let’s face it, most people are interested in the graduation of their own son or daughter, nephew, niece or grandchild. And that’s the way it should be.

As I write this column on Friday, May 25 in advance of the Memorial Day weekend and holiday, The Cavs are down 3-2 in their best of seven series against the Celtics. Game six is in Cleveland. The Cavs should tie up the series and send it back to Boston for the deciding game seven. In the western conference Houston leads the Warriors 3-2 in their best of seven series. But a late game five hamstring injury to Chris Paul casts a pall of its own over the chances for the Rockets to take the series.

Yes, we all know that the Indians are in first place with a lackluster 24-24 record while Houston and Boston have carved out 33 and 34 wins respectively. I guess the Tribe is fortunate that they are in the Central Division. In the National League the Brewers, Atlanta and Colorado are in the top spots. Washington, considered to be the pre-season favorite in the National League, is in fourth with 26 wins in the closely contested east.

Here’s hoping you pulled out a win Ridgewood Generals and are headed to state! The boys’ baseball team played Minford on Friday evening, May 25 in the regional final after knocking off the Fredericktown Freddie’s 5-1 earlier in the week. Good luck to all area track athletes that are moving on!

Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion