Graduation Message to a Daughter
What a parent writes. Say the thing you do not say out loud — this is one of the few cards where that is expected.
From a mother or father
- 1
I have been proud of you for twenty-one years. Today I am just allowed to say it in public.
- 2
You are better at this than I ever was, and I have never once minded.
- 3
We did not do this. You did this. We just kept the heating on.
- 4
Whatever happens next, nobody can take this off you.
- 5
You have your grandmother’s stubbornness and it has finally paid off.
- 6
The best thing about today is watching you realise you actually did it.
If she is the first in the family
- 7
First one. Four generations got you to this hall and you carried the last bit yourself.
- 8
Your grandmother left school at fourteen. She would not have had the words for today.
- 9
You have changed what is normal in this family.
If it was hard
- 10
You nearly stopped twice and you did not. That is the part I am proudest of.
- 11
You did this while carrying a great deal that nobody in that hall knows about.
- 12
The grade is not the achievement. Finishing was.
Questions people actually ask
What should a parent write in a graduation card?
Say the thing you do not usually say out loud. Parents’ cards are the ones that get kept, and specific pride beats general pride every time.