“I’ve always been a rule follower. When they said not to chew gum, I didn’t chew gum. When they said not to use your cellphone, I didn’t use my cellphone. But today, in the spirit of defying expectations, and for perhaps the last time at this podium, I say..."
Early College High School valedictorian Alem Hadzic has gone viral after he took the stage at his graduation ceremony to deliver his speech—just hours after his father's funeral.
Discover a variety of heartfelt and appropriate ways of how to respond to "I'm sorry for your loss." Whether you prefer to keep it simple, share a memory, or express gratitude, find the right words to navigate these conversations during times of grief.
"I really miss you curled up around me now. It's truly unbearable at night. So I hope you don't mind, but I'm running the air conditioner at full blast in February and I'm setting up my makeshift 'Heating Pad Hubby' on your side of the bed."
"I realized in the midst of my argument with my spouse that I wasn’t so much lashing out at him. I was lashing out at my lack of control. I was lashing out at uncertainty, and I was frustrated that he didn’t respond to that like I did."
"I was faced with the greatest challenge of my writing career - writing and delivering the eulogy of my best friend, the father of my five children and the truest man I've ever known... You know how sometimes you’ll meet a person and think to yourself or even tell everyone around you, 'Oh my gosh, he was the nicest man you could ever want to meet!' Well, That wasn’t my husband."
