Today was the hardest day we’ve had in four years, graduation day. Four years ago we lost our son to a tragic accident on his way to school and today he would have graduated with the class of 2010.

The senior class of Bridgeport High School did an outstanding job at honoring his memory. Principal LeClair said to me tonight…” gone but never forgotten”

I have to commend and congratulate “Our Boys”, that’s what we call them. Dustin’s best friends for many years before he past away, our sons. Nick, Brandon, Johny and Marc… they all graduated tonight and with the help of a very special teacher, Mrs. Michelle Tolles they did an incredible job honoring his memory.

The senior class did a fundraiser to purchase a bench in Dustin’s memory and it was placed in the courtyard of the high school today. The best part is, they had $500 left over from the fundraiser in which they placed as a scholarship in Dustin’s name. A young man that was one of Dustin’s best friends received the scholarship to pursuer his goal of being a pediatrician. Nick received the scholarship and he also released the balloons in his honor for graduation.

You see, the school actually went above and beyond much more than we expected. At commencements tonight they placed a chair where Dustin would have sat with a ribbon on it and they called his name as they would have if he would’ve been there. When his name was called, Nick released two balloons in Dustin’s memory…incredible.

This was bitter sweet for us because as much as we loved seeing “Our Boys” receive their diploma in their cap and gown, it was heartbreaking to see that empty chair with a simple bow instead of seeing our son sitting there.

As much as I love those boys and as happy as we were, we waited to go down on the field after graduation. We wanted to take the bow as our memory but in no way did I want to spoil their happy day, considering the fact that I was not happy like they were.

Bitter Sweet…we could never thank anyone enough for the tremendous support of remembering Dustin, yet we could not be as happy as they were that they had a whole life ahead of them.

We miss you Dustin and we thank the Bridgeport High School Senior Class for giving us that little minute of glory in our son’s memory. We wouldn’t have had that without Nick, Brandon, Johny, Marc and Michelle…Thank you.