The Speech That Has Never Been Spoken

Everything I know about community I learned from a schoolmate’s speech when I was in fifth grade … even though that speech was never delivered.

The would-be orator — let’s call him Ron Whitaker, a fictitious name for a real person — spoke two words that day. An eighth-grader, he looked out over an auditorium filled with teachers, parents, and peers for ten, twenty, thirty seconds of silence that must have seemed so much longer to him. For whatever reason, the moment had proven too big. In a strong, clear voice, he said, “I’m sorry”, stepped away from the podium…