That time of the year

I wasn’t out in the sun long this weekend, but I still got a nice little tan on the back of my neck. It’s kind of appropriate. I’ll be thinking about sunscreen this week.

You see I’ll be attending my local high school graduation this week. I get to watch my niece cross the podium. I’ll be the one whooping and hollering from the back when they announce her name. In fact, my son and I are in charge of blowing the air horn that my wife is borrowing for the big occasion. And throughout the ceremony I’ll be thinking about the need to wear sunscreen. Oh, it could be a cloudy day and I’ll still be thinking of sunscreen.

Smart advice!

I’ll be thinking about sunscreen because close to three decades ago, Mary Schmich, a Chicago Tribune Columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner, who I used to follow, wrote a memorable column titled, Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young, on the the advice she would offer graduates should she ever be asked to give a graduation speech. As strange as it sounds, sunscreen played a big role in the make-believe speech.

I wrote my own pretend version ala Schmich, but for the life of me, I can’t find it. It’s probably a good thing. Mine pales in comparison to Schmich’s. She started by advising graduates to “wear sunscreen,” since the long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proven, whereas the rest of her advice was just that, advice to be taken or let ring through one ear and out the other.

Some of her wise words:

• “Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.”
• “Sing.”
• “Floss.”
• “Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.”

Who wrote that?

Her made-up speech was so powerful that many people attributed it to Kurt Vonnegut and Australian film director, writer, and actor Mark Anthony “Baz” Luhrmann turned the speech into a spoken word single “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).”

I’ve attended any number of high school and college graduations and baccalaureates since reading Schmich’s speech in 1997 and I’ve yet to hear one that compares with hers. Wealthy businessmen and women, famous Hollywood stars and athletes, influential politicians and dignitaries fail to hold a match to Schmich’s words. Most of the speeches I’ve forgotten before I even pulled away from the event.

I loved the simplicity of her advice. It reminded me of something my grandmother might tell me:

• “Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.”
• “Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.”
• “Respect your elders.”

Schmich’s column ends of course with the best advice of all: “But trust me on the sunscreen.” What’s the best graduation speech you’ve ever heard or seen written?