Dr.
Wong, Dr. Keough, Mrs. Novogroski, Ms. Curran, members of the board of
education, family and friends of the graduates, ladies and gentlemen of
the Wellesley High School class of 2012, for the privilege of speaking
to you this afternoon, I am honored and grateful. Thank you.
So here we are... commencement... life’s great forward-looking
ceremony. (And don’t say, “What about weddings?” Weddings are one-sided
and insufficiently effective. Weddings are bride-centric pageantry.
Other than conceding to a list of unreasonable demands, the groom just
stands there. No stately, hey-everybody-look-at-me procession. No being
given away. No identity-changing pronouncement. And can you imagine a
television show dedicated to watching guys try on tuxedos? Their fathers
sitting there misty-eyed with joy and disbelief, their brothers lurking
in the corner muttering with envy. Left to