Jack Jablonski
Minneapolis, MN
Dear Jack,
Congratulations again on your graduation from Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School on May 30th. The last three weeks have been a constant celebration of your last four years of high school.
There has been one party to attend after another. And there are more parties to go to later this month. That is one great thing about private school parents; they really know how to throw a party.
I caught up with my son John this week. We found time to meet with him between his football workouts and college prep school studies. I was finally able to ask him a question that I had been thinking about for a long time.
I asked John what he learned from his high school experience.
To his credit, he never hesitated a second. He knew the answer to the question as if he knew I was going to ask him the question right then and there.
John told me that he was disappointed in many of his athletic and academic goals when he began high school. Things did not go his way on several occasions. He got cut from the hockey team. He never got the grade he worked hard for some times. And he was never named a captain.
John told me that he had to learn how to be disappointed. He had to learn how to change. He had to learn how to make the best of his new situation. He had to learn how to continue to dream and believe that if he worked hard, anything was possible for him.
At the end of his answer, John stated, “I learned that from Jack.”
When John said Jack, I knew that he was talking about you. There is only one true Jack at BSM.
John went on to tell me what a huge influence that you had on his high school life. He gave me a recent example.
“Dad, think about it. Almost three years ago we are visiting Jack in a hospital room. Doctors are telling him that he will never walk again. He never again can play the sport that he loves. Now, fast forward to our senior year. He graduates with his class, and he is going to USC.
In the last three weeks, every party I go to Jack is completely surrounded by hot girls who want a picture with him. That is after he takes Michelle Beadle from ESPN to prom!
If Jack can get to where he is now, and have the future he has ahead of him, what do I have to be afraid of going forward? If I work hard, I can achieve the same thing for myself.”
This letter to you is to say thanks, Jack. You helped my son realize how big the world can be. And you helped him understand the opportunities that are ahead for him.
Your attitude, hard work, and personality have influenced my son John a great degree. He counts on the smile on your face every time he sees you. You will always be one of his best high school friends.
The last three years, you thought that you were just going to high school. No, much more than that, Jack. All that time you were an example to kids who knew you. Your perseverance and courage changed their lives forever.
When you make it big in LA, don’t forget we love you here in Minnesota.
Ric Lager
Lager & Company, Inc.
