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By SHARON KILPATRICK
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Graduation speaker Coy Rothman told the graduating class, “You have no limitations. The only limitations are what you, yourselves limit yourselves to.”
Mr. Rothman lives in Northern Virginia and has a computer business. He served in Vietnam for seven years collecting 23 purple hearts and three Distinguished Service Crosses. He got out of the service and started a business. “I had fun and enjoyed myself,” he said. Then he went to Arruba and tried to climb the sheer face of a mountain. From 600 feet up he fell to the bottom. “I landed hard, and nine months later I went blind,” he said.
“I lost my business. I lost my family. I lost my home. I lost everything. I was almost homeless,” he said. "But I had something. I knew if I could do it once, I could do it twice. I started all over again. I went to school and got my companion (his guide dog Sweetie). I have a new family and a new business.”
He told the graduating seniors, “There are a lot of pitfalls in the road of life. If you come to one, don’t stop. Figure out another way of doing it. There is nothing I can't do if I want to do it, and it’s the same for you. Life itself is a wonderful, happy joyous thing... Enjoy life.”
Salutatorian honors were shared by Lori Paratore and Laura Pendleton, who reminisced with the seniors about their high school years. “When we started eighth grade, we had 900 days of school to go,” Miss Paratore said. “Now we are down to the last two hours... School is filled with good memories, the 11th grade Prom, the senior trip. These are special memories. Our class never won the spirit stick. Now we’re graduating together... With today’s dreams, we’ll make tomorrow’s dreams come true.”
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