Dear Editor,
I read an article in the paper last week about the principal of Fairfield High School, Mr. Wade, retiring after being employed by FISD for 42 years. It got me to thinking about an incident that happened to me forty years ago.
I was a senior at Fairfield High School. I was also married and pregnant. There was another young lady in my class that was also pregnant. I can’t speak for her, but I’m sure she, like me, was looking forward to graduating with our class.
The weeks flew by and my anticipation grew, along with my waist line, of graduating with the class of 1979. Imagine my dismay when I was told that my pregnant classmate and I would not be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony. I was stunned and dismayed. I had worked hard for 12 years. I was in the top twenty-five percent, academically, in my class. I think the general consensus, with the powers that be, was that we would be setting a bad example for other students because of our “motherly condition” or perhaps to punish us for getting ourselves in this predicament to start with. All of this only added to my feelings of inadequacy because I grew up poor. I felt defeated.
Unbeknownst to me, a teacher and his wife took up the cause and defended my right and the right of my other classmate to participate in the graduating ceremonies. Their argument against the majority was that if anyone needed to graduate, it was us. We would not be setting a bad example, but a good example of attaining a goal despite adversity.
That teacher was my Civics teacher, I knew him as Coach Wade. I’ll never forget him or his wife for their act of kindness and courage.
I ended up walking across the state in May of 1979, along with my peers. The feeling of euphoria that washed over me that night is almost indescribable.
To the graduating Class of 2019, especially to the ones who might be disadvantaged, I would like to say that as you walk across that stage and receive your diploma, you are crossing over an invisible starting line for the race that we call life. You are just as qualified and fit to run this race as anybody else.
Less than two months later, I delivered a healthy baby boy. I named him Scotty Leatherman. I went on to have two other children, Shelly and Shawna. I went to college and attained a double major. I then went on to own a couple of businesses in the field of bookkeeping and tax service. I thank God for helping me and protecting me all these years. I also thank him for strategically placing Mr. & Mrs. Wade in my life during my time of need.
On May 24, I will be watching my oldest granddaughter, Hannah Leatherman, graduate. My heart is full of gratitude.
To my former classmates of 1979, let’s look forward to the next forty years.
Carol Leatherman Bradley
Fairfield, Texas
