[Music]
the curricula is rigorous tough
demanding compelling forcing you to be
your best and to give your best the
sacrifice young people that you went
through most of us will never ever know
but here’s my message to whom much is
given much is required you have been
blessed invested in by this great
faculty you won’t ever receive the kind
of knowledge that you’ve received in
your time here but I wish that you would
couple that knowledge with something
else wisdom wisdom from a mother wisdom
from a father a grandmother a
grandfather an uncle an aunt a friend of
a favorite professor wisdom from
somewhere that that combination will
keep you centered regardless of the
turbulence of the sea that that
combination will keep you well grounded
regardless of the ups and downs of life
that that combination will cause you to
make an impact to grow your influence
was John Maxwell who said leadership is
influenced nothing more nothing less
your ability to influence people within
the sphere of your periphery will
determine the impact that you make will
Cal maritime graduates make an impact
they make an impact all over the world
making an impact it’s not about making a
nice impression it’s about making an
impact it’s about doing your best I
learned how to make an impact from the
wisest person I ever met in my life a
third-grade dropouts why is this and
drop out in the same sentence as rather
mmm-hmm like fun run ain’t nothing fun
about it like Microsoft Works y’all
don’t hear me
I used to say like country music but
I’ve lived in Texas so long I love
country music now I bet ya I hunt I fish
I have cowboy boots and cowboy y’all I’m
a black neck redneck do you hear what
I’m sayin to you no longer oxymoronic
for me to say country music and it’s not
oxymoronic for me to say third grade and
drop out that third grade dropout the
wisest person I ever met in my life who
taught me to combine knowledge and
wisdom to make an impact was my father
my daddy grew up in the Piney Woods of
East Texas little town called Huntsville
Texas after World War Two was over my
father decided to be the only one in his
family to migrate west and in the 1950s
he found his way to the San Francisco
Bay Area fell in love with a forklift
driver my mother was a bad memory
jamming let me tell you right now baby
didn’t need a man he was just there my
mother was a forklift driver over the
Benicia arsenal where they would she
would provide the services to support
the war efforts during World War two in
the 50s my mother and father get married
and they migrated to this area my father
gets a job as a cook a simple cook why
is this man ever men in my life
just a simple cook at some school called
California Maritime Academy oh come on
you have no idea how thrilled I am to be
here this is so emotional this may be my
favorite speech of all time because
y’all are my family I can’t wait to take
a picture with you I grew up on this
campus I was born and reared here lived
at 11:41 Louisiana Street Vallejo
California nine four five nine oh my
daddy used to work in something called
the galley the mess hall now it’s the
dining center and it’s a nice one
[Applause]
my father why’s this man ever met in my
life left school in the third grade to
help out on the family farm but just
because he left school doesn’t mean a
jezic education stopped Mark Twain once
said I’ve never allowed my schooling to
get in the way of my education my father
taught himself how to read taught
himself how to write decided in the
midst of Jim Crow ISM as America was
breathing the last gas for the Civil War
my father decided he was going to stand
and be a man
not a black man not a brown man not a
white man but a man he literally
challenged himself to be the best that
he could all the days of his life I want
to share something with you the wisest
man I ever met in my life
never made it past the third grade
impacted tremendously me and my brother
growing up right here in Vallejo this
this was our family this Academy was our
backyard going on that training ship and
getting lost
sneaking into the pool going to all the
different places for nearly 30 years
this was home and I want to tell you I
know what it takes to get where you are
and I need you to listen to me very
carefully I have four degrees my brother
is a judge we’re not the smartest ones
in our family it’s a third grade dropout
daddy a third grade dropout daddy who
was quoting Michelangelo when he
a cook at Cal maritime saying to us boys
I won’t have a problem if you aim high
and miss but I’m gonna have a real issue
if you aim low and hit a country mother
quoting Henry Ford saying if you think
you can or if you think you can’t you’re
right you see it takes knowledge and
wisdom combined to grow your influence
so that you will make up an impact
you’ll be a shipmate that others can
count on I learned that from a third
grade rum simple lessons lessons like
these son don’t judge people sound I’ve
worked at Cal maritime you know I’ve
been all over the world I’ve seen good
and bad in every shade don’t judge
people the tendency of a person is to
walk away from somebody that’s different
from them you stay there and you get to
know them never judge then he dropped
Jonathan Swift on me who’s that vision
is the ability to see the invisible
don’t judge another lesson from this
third grade dropout son you’d rather be
an hour early than a minute late we
never knew what time it was at my house
cuz the clocks were always ahead we were
on Cal maritime come on somebody watch
this my father had the breakfast and
lunch shift here at the Academy he had
to be at work at 5 o’clock we lived on
tennis we lived on Louisiana Street 15
minutes away
my mother said for nearly 30 years my
father left the house at 3:45 in the
morning one day she asked him why daddy
he said maybe one of my boys will catch
me in the act of excellence I want to
share two things with you
Aristotle said you are what you
repeatedly do there for excellence ought
to be a habit not an act don’t ever
forget that the other thing I want to
share with you is Harvard Business
Review September 2004 the article is
titled deep smarts here’s the thesis
luxury what our universities are based
upon is the worst kind of teaching
method usually present company excluded
that if you want to get the intended
message across model the behavior my
daddy a third-grade rap out a cook was
modeling excellence for his boys
combining academic knowledge an
old-school wisdom that’s what makes an
impact in impact as you go all over the
world you’re not interested in making a
nice impression you want to make an
impact lesson number three be kind to
people he always told us kind deeds are
never lost I get to do a lot of NFL
chapel’s you see some amazing things
with those National Football League
players you see guys that can benchpress
200 300 pounds 20 times you see folks
that are huge that can run like a deer
you see folks from a flat-footed
position jump 40 inches 40 inch vertical
leap I even saw a white guy do it once
you know what stops me in my tracks when
I see one of those rich folks show
kindness it literally stops the world
George Washington Carver said when
common people do common things in
uncommon ways they command the attention
of the world I just described your
grandmother I know you’re tough I know
you’re seaworthy but always remember to
be kind always don’t ever forget that
never embarrass mama mm-hmm yeah if mama
ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy if daddy
ain’t happy you don’t nobody care but
you know I’m tell you next lesson lesson
from a cook over there in the galley son
make sure your servants towel is bigger
than your ego I want to remind you
cadets of something as you graduate ego
is the anesthesia that deadens the pain
of stupidity
y’all might have a relative in mind you
want to send that to let me say it again
ego is the anesthesia to deadens the
pain of stupidity pride is the burden of
a foolish person you’ll never be a great
shipmate you’ll never be a great
executive you’ll never be a great
teammate it’s all about you you’ll never
be a great supervisor a councilperson
if it’s all about you you’ll never be a
great staff member if it’s all about you
rather make sure that servants towel is
always big on president croppers
bookshelf in his bookshelf
he has everyone from every book from
Plato’s Republic to lessons in
leadership by coach wooden John Wooden
coach basketball UCLA for a living but
his calling was the impact people and
with all those national championships
guess what he was found doing in the
middle of the week going into the
cupboard grabbing a broom and sweeping
his own gym floor you want to make an
impact find your broom every day of your
life you find your broom you grow your
influence that way that way you’re
attracting people so that you can impact
them final lesson son
if you’re gonna do a job do it right I
don’t have to tell you all that kalimera
time and I know grammatically that’s not
correct it I’ll be doing well but I like
that old-school ghetto kind of do it the
right way I’m thinking about a little
boy in Los Angeles all he wants to do is
play Little League baseball his mother
can’t even afford to buy him a glove
and he eventually plays Little League
and he’s really good and he’s so good he
gets a scholarship to Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo and he’s so good he gets drafted
by the San Diego Padres and he’s so good
he helps the st. Louis Cardinals win a
World Series and 12 years ago when Ozzy
Smith walked into the Hall of Fame he
said during his induction speech and in
part I quote word for word he said I’ve
always been told how average I can be
always been criticized about being
average
but I want to tell you something I stand
here before you before all of these
people not listening to those words but
telling myself every single day to shoot
for the stars to be the best that I can
be good enough isn’t good enough if it
can be better and better isn’t good
enough if it can be best
that’s the California maritime way good
enough isn’t good enough if it can be
better
better isn’t good enough if it can be
best let me close with a very personal
story that I think will bring all this
into focus wisdom will come to you in
the unlikeliest of sources a lot of
times through failure when you hit rock
bottom remember this while you’re
struggling rock bottom can also be a
great foundation on which to build and
on which to grow I’m not worried that
you’ll be successful I’m worried that
you won’t fail from time to time person
that gets up off the canvas and keeps
growing that’s the person that will
continue to grow their influence back in
the seventies to help me make this point
let me introduce you to someone I’m at
the finest woman I’ve ever met in my
life
mmm-hmm back in my day way to called her
a brick house I was going to that great
academic institution in the north Chico
State y’all don’t know what I’m talking
about probably studying really hard let
me just put it to you like this I I
haven’t always been a preacher if you
understand what I’m saying this woman
was the finest woman I’d ever seen in my
life there’s just one little problem
back then ladies didn’t like big old
lime and The Blind Side hadn’t come out
yet they liked quarterbacks and running
backs any former quarterbacks or running
backs here raise your hands why a couple
of you punks anyway so we’re at this
dance and I find out her name is Trina
Williams from Lompoc California and and
we were all dancing and we’re just just
excited and I decide in the middle of
dancing with her that I would ask her
for a phone number
she Katrina was the first one Trina was
the only woman in college who gave me
her real telephone number the next day
we walked to Baskin and Robbins ice
cream parlor my friends couldn’t believe
it this has been 40 years ago and my
friend still can’t believe it we go on a
second date and a third date and a
fourth date mm-hmm we drive from Chico
to Vallejo so that she could meet my
parents my father meets her my daddy my
hero he meets her pulls me to the side
and says is she psycho but anyway we go
together for a year two years three
years four years by now Trina’s a senior
in college I’m still a freshman but I’m
working some things out
I’m so glad I graduated in four terms
Nixon Ford Carter Reagan so now it’s
time to propose so I talked to her
girlfriends and it’s California it’s in
the 70s so it has to be outside have to
have a candle and you have to have you
know some chocolate listen I’m from the
hood I had a bottle of Boone’s Farm wine
that’s what I had she said yes that was
the key I married the most beautiful
woman I’ve ever seen am i y’all ever
been to a wedding and even before the
wedding starts you hear this how in the
world and it was coming from my side of
we get married we have a few children
our lives are great
one day Trina finds a lump in her left
breasts breast cancer six years after
that diagnosis me and my two little boys
walked up to mommy’s casket and for two
years my heart didn’t beat it wasn’t for
my faith in God I wouldn’t be standing
here today if it wasn’t for those two
little boys there’d have been no reason
that was rock bottom
you know what sustained me the wisdom of
a third grade dropout the wisdom of a
simple cook from California Maritime
Academy ret the casket in College
Station Texas I’d never seen my dad cry
big strong man there are several alumni
that remember Riggs that are here we’ve
been sharing stories all weekend but
this time I saw my dad cry that was his
daughter Trina was his daughter not his
daughter-in-law and I’m right behind my
father about to see her for the last
time on this earth and my father shared
three words with me to change my life
right there at the casket it would be
the last lesson he would ever teach me
he said son just stand president cropper
captain Bolton Rear Admiral de cuatro I
don’t think there’s anything more
profound that I can share with these
cadets than these words you keep
standing you keep spitting no matter how
rough the sea you keep standing and I’m
not talking about just water you keep
standing no matter what you don’t give
up I learned that lesson from a third
grade dropout who was a cook at Cal
maritime who said boy you keep standing
no matter what I stood and a miracle
took place a couple years later my heart
started to beat again I’m stalking in a
group about like this when all of a
sudden I spot
the finest woman I’ve ever met in my
life again first thing janet did after
we got married was she adopted those
little boys fulfilling Trina’s last wish
that her baby’s not go through life
without a mommy and then we decided to
do something really bright we thought
1617 years ago and I was having more
children it’s worked out lovely and I’m
honored to tell you that we had more
boys I have four boys from 34 years old
all the way down to my daddy’s youngest
grandson who’s here with me this weekend
Joshua
Rigsby sitting on the front row right
there I close with this I close with
this and this will make the point more
salient than any of my previous words
let me take you back to two days before
Trina died no hair because a
chemotherapy could it’s a tummy pooched
out because of a liver no longer working
she weighed about 75 pounds I’m in the
kitchen so I can keep an eye on her in
the family room she’s surrounded by
pillows are the in youngest son Andrew
walks up with a shirt that he wants
mommy to fold and this is what I hear
from Trina Andrew mama not always kind
of be there to help you she was saying
goodbye and I was so moved
I waited for Andrew to leave and I
walked over and I sat next to her on the
couch and as clearly as I’m talking to
you today these were some of her last
words to me she looked me in the eye and
she said it doesn’t matter to me any
longer how long I live what matters to
me most is how I live cadets I’ve come
here with honour with bells on – all one
question a question that I was asked all
my life by a 3rd grade dropout how you
live in how you live in every day asked
yourself that question how you live in
here’s here’s what a cook in the dining
center would suggest you to live this
way that you would not judge that you
would show up early that you’d be kind
that you make sure that that servants
towel is huge and used that if you’re
gonna do something you do it the right
way that that that cook would tell you
this that it’s never wrong to do the
right thing that how you do anything is
how you do everything and in that way
you will grow your influence to make an
impact in that way you will honor all
those who have gone before you who have
invested in you from teachers to
grandparents to mom and dad and when you
combine that academic knowledge with
that wisdom oh my goodness you will
change the world so to the class of 2017
it is with great honor did I say all
your life look in those unlikeliest
places for wisdom enhance your life
every day by seeking that wisdom and
asking yourself every night how am i
living may God richly bless you all
thank you for having me [Applause]
the curricula is rigorous tough
demanding compelling forcing you to be
your best and to give your best the
sacrifice young people that you went
through most of us will never ever know
but here’s my message to whom much is
given much is required you have been
blessed invested in by this great
faculty you won’t ever receive the kind
of knowledge that you’ve received in
your time here but I wish that you would
couple that knowledge with something
else wisdom wisdom from a mother wisdom
from a father a grandmother a
grandfather an uncle an aunt a friend of
a favorite professor wisdom from
somewhere that that combination will
keep you centered regardless of the
turbulence of the sea that that
combination will keep you well grounded
regardless of the ups and downs of life
that that combination will cause you to
make an impact to grow your influence
was John Maxwell who said leadership is
influenced nothing more nothing less
your ability to influence people within
the sphere of your periphery will
determine the impact that you make will
Cal maritime graduates make an impact
they make an impact all over the world
making an impact it’s not about making a
nice impression it’s about making an
impact it’s about doing your best I
learned how to make an impact from the
wisest person I ever met in my life a
third-grade dropouts why is this and
drop out in the same sentence as rather
mmm-hmm like fun run ain’t nothing fun
about it like Microsoft Works y’all
don’t hear me
I used to say like country music but
I’ve lived in Texas so long I love
country music now I bet ya I hunt I fish
I have cowboy boots and cowboy y’all I’m
a black neck redneck do you hear what
I’m sayin to you no longer oxymoronic
for me to say country music and it’s not
oxymoronic for me to say third grade and
drop out that third grade dropout the
wisest person I ever met in my life who
taught me to combine knowledge and
wisdom to make an impact was my father
my daddy grew up in the Piney Woods of
East Texas little town called Huntsville
Texas after World War Two was over my
father decided to be the only one in his
family to migrate west and in the 1950s
he found his way to the San Francisco
Bay Area fell in love with a forklift
driver my mother was a bad memory
jamming let me tell you right now baby
didn’t need a man he was just there my
mother was a forklift driver over the
Benicia arsenal where they would she
would provide the services to support
the war efforts during World War two in
the 50s my mother and father get married
and they migrated to this area my father
gets a job as a cook a simple cook why
is this man ever men in my life
just a simple cook at some school called
California Maritime Academy oh come on
you have no idea how thrilled I am to be
here this is so emotional this may be my
favorite speech of all time because
y’all are my family I can’t wait to take
a picture with you I grew up on this
campus I was born and reared here lived
at 11:41 Louisiana Street Vallejo
California nine four five nine oh my
daddy used to work in something called
the galley the mess hall now it’s the
dining center and it’s a nice one
[Applause]
my father why’s this man ever met in my
life left school in the third grade to
help out on the family farm but just
because he left school doesn’t mean a
jezic education stopped Mark Twain once
said I’ve never allowed my schooling to
get in the way of my education my father
taught himself how to read taught
himself how to write decided in the
midst of Jim Crow ISM as America was
breathing the last gas for the Civil War
my father decided he was going to stand
and be a man
not a black man not a brown man not a
white man but a man he literally
challenged himself to be the best that
he could all the days of his life I want
to share something with you the wisest
man I ever met in my life
never made it past the third grade
impacted tremendously me and my brother
growing up right here in Vallejo this
this was our family this Academy was our
backyard going on that training ship and
getting lost
sneaking into the pool going to all the
different places for nearly 30 years
this was home and I want to tell you I
know what it takes to get where you are
and I need you to listen to me very
carefully I have four degrees my brother
is a judge we’re not the smartest ones
in our family it’s a third grade dropout
daddy a third grade dropout daddy who
was quoting Michelangelo when he
a cook at Cal maritime saying to us boys
I won’t have a problem if you aim high
and miss but I’m gonna have a real issue
if you aim low and hit a country mother
quoting Henry Ford saying if you think
you can or if you think you can’t you’re
right you see it takes knowledge and
wisdom combined to grow your influence
so that you will make up an impact
you’ll be a shipmate that others can
count on I learned that from a third
grade rum simple lessons lessons like
these son don’t judge people sound I’ve
worked at Cal maritime you know I’ve
been all over the world I’ve seen good
and bad in every shade don’t judge
people the tendency of a person is to
walk away from somebody that’s different
from them you stay there and you get to
know them never judge then he dropped
Jonathan Swift on me who’s that vision
is the ability to see the invisible
don’t judge another lesson from this
third grade dropout son you’d rather be
an hour early than a minute late we
never knew what time it was at my house
cuz the clocks were always ahead we were
on Cal maritime come on somebody watch
this my father had the breakfast and
lunch shift here at the Academy he had
to be at work at 5 o’clock we lived on
tennis we lived on Louisiana Street 15
minutes away
my mother said for nearly 30 years my
father left the house at 3:45 in the
morning one day she asked him why daddy
he said maybe one of my boys will catch
me in the act of excellence I want to
share two things with you
Aristotle said you are what you
repeatedly do there for excellence ought
to be a habit not an act don’t ever
forget that the other thing I want to
share with you is Harvard Business
Review September 2004 the article is
titled deep smarts here’s the thesis
luxury what our universities are based
upon is the worst kind of teaching
method usually present company excluded
that if you want to get the intended
message across model the behavior my
daddy a third-grade rap out a cook was
modeling excellence for his boys
combining academic knowledge an
old-school wisdom that’s what makes an
impact in impact as you go all over the
world you’re not interested in making a
nice impression you want to make an
impact lesson number three be kind to
people he always told us kind deeds are
never lost I get to do a lot of NFL
chapel’s you see some amazing things
with those National Football League
players you see guys that can benchpress
200 300 pounds 20 times you see folks
that are huge that can run like a deer
you see folks from a flat-footed
position jump 40 inches 40 inch vertical
leap I even saw a white guy do it once
you know what stops me in my tracks when
I see one of those rich folks show
kindness it literally stops the world
George Washington Carver said when
common people do common things in
uncommon ways they command the attention
of the world I just described your
grandmother I know you’re tough I know
you’re seaworthy but always remember to
be kind always don’t ever forget that
never embarrass mama mm-hmm yeah if mama
ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy if daddy
ain’t happy you don’t nobody care but
you know I’m tell you next lesson lesson
from a cook over there in the galley son
make sure your servants towel is bigger
than your ego I want to remind you
cadets of something as you graduate ego
is the anesthesia that deadens the pain
of stupidity
y’all might have a relative in mind you
want to send that to let me say it again
ego is the anesthesia to deadens the
pain of stupidity pride is the burden of
a foolish person you’ll never be a great
shipmate you’ll never be a great
executive you’ll never be a great
teammate it’s all about you you’ll never
be a great supervisor a councilperson
if it’s all about you you’ll never be a
great staff member if it’s all about you
rather make sure that servants towel is
always big on president croppers
bookshelf in his bookshelf
he has everyone from every book from
Plato’s Republic to lessons in
leadership by coach wooden John Wooden
coach basketball UCLA for a living but
his calling was the impact people and
with all those national championships
guess what he was found doing in the
middle of the week going into the
cupboard grabbing a broom and sweeping
his own gym floor you want to make an
impact find your broom every day of your
life you find your broom you grow your
influence that way that way you’re
attracting people so that you can impact
them final lesson son
if you’re gonna do a job do it right I
don’t have to tell you all that kalimera
time and I know grammatically that’s not
correct it I’ll be doing well but I like
that old-school ghetto kind of do it the
right way I’m thinking about a little
boy in Los Angeles all he wants to do is
play Little League baseball his mother
can’t even afford to buy him a glove
and he eventually plays Little League
and he’s really good and he’s so good he
gets a scholarship to Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo and he’s so good he gets drafted
by the San Diego Padres and he’s so good
he helps the st. Louis Cardinals win a
World Series and 12 years ago when Ozzy
Smith walked into the Hall of Fame he
said during his induction speech and in
part I quote word for word he said I’ve
always been told how average I can be
always been criticized about being
average
but I want to tell you something I stand
here before you before all of these
people not listening to those words but
telling myself every single day to shoot
for the stars to be the best that I can
be good enough isn’t good enough if it
can be better and better isn’t good
enough if it can be best
that’s the California maritime way good
enough isn’t good enough if it can be
better
better isn’t good enough if it can be
best let me close with a very personal
story that I think will bring all this
into focus wisdom will come to you in
the unlikeliest of sources a lot of
times through failure when you hit rock
bottom remember this while you’re
struggling rock bottom can also be a
great foundation on which to build and
on which to grow I’m not worried that
you’ll be successful I’m worried that
you won’t fail from time to time person
that gets up off the canvas and keeps
growing that’s the person that will
continue to grow their influence back in
the seventies to help me make this point
let me introduce you to someone I’m at
the finest woman I’ve ever met in my
life
mmm-hmm back in my day way to called her
a brick house I was going to that great
academic institution in the north Chico
State y’all don’t know what I’m talking
about probably studying really hard let
me just put it to you like this I I
haven’t always been a preacher if you
understand what I’m saying this woman
was the finest woman I’d ever seen in my
life there’s just one little problem
back then ladies didn’t like big old
lime and The Blind Side hadn’t come out
yet they liked quarterbacks and running
backs any former quarterbacks or running
backs here raise your hands why a couple
of you punks anyway so we’re at this
dance and I find out her name is Trina
Williams from Lompoc California and and
we were all dancing and we’re just just
excited and I decide in the middle of
dancing with her that I would ask her
for a phone number
she Katrina was the first one Trina was
the only woman in college who gave me
her real telephone number the next day
we walked to Baskin and Robbins ice
cream parlor my friends couldn’t believe
it this has been 40 years ago and my
friend still can’t believe it we go on a
second date and a third date and a
fourth date mm-hmm we drive from Chico
to Vallejo so that she could meet my
parents my father meets her my daddy my
hero he meets her pulls me to the side
and says is she psycho but anyway we go
together for a year two years three
years four years by now Trina’s a senior
in college I’m still a freshman but I’m
working some things out
I’m so glad I graduated in four terms
Nixon Ford Carter Reagan so now it’s
time to propose so I talked to her
girlfriends and it’s California it’s in
the 70s so it has to be outside have to
have a candle and you have to have you
know some chocolate listen I’m from the
hood I had a bottle of Boone’s Farm wine
that’s what I had she said yes that was
the key I married the most beautiful
woman I’ve ever seen am i y’all ever
been to a wedding and even before the
wedding starts you hear this how in the
world and it was coming from my side of
we get married we have a few children
our lives are great
one day Trina finds a lump in her left
breasts breast cancer six years after
that diagnosis me and my two little boys
walked up to mommy’s casket and for two
years my heart didn’t beat it wasn’t for
my faith in God I wouldn’t be standing
here today if it wasn’t for those two
little boys there’d have been no reason
that was rock bottom
you know what sustained me the wisdom of
a third grade dropout the wisdom of a
simple cook from California Maritime
Academy ret the casket in College
Station Texas I’d never seen my dad cry
big strong man there are several alumni
that remember Riggs that are here we’ve
been sharing stories all weekend but
this time I saw my dad cry that was his
daughter Trina was his daughter not his
daughter-in-law and I’m right behind my
father about to see her for the last
time on this earth and my father shared
three words with me to change my life
right there at the casket it would be
the last lesson he would ever teach me
he said son just stand president cropper
captain Bolton Rear Admiral de cuatro I
don’t think there’s anything more
profound that I can share with these
cadets than these words you keep
standing you keep spitting no matter how
rough the sea you keep standing and I’m
not talking about just water you keep
standing no matter what you don’t give
up I learned that lesson from a third
grade dropout who was a cook at Cal
maritime who said boy you keep standing
no matter what I stood and a miracle
took place a couple years later my heart
started to beat again I’m stalking in a
group about like this when all of a
sudden I spot
the finest woman I’ve ever met in my
life again first thing janet did after
we got married was she adopted those
little boys fulfilling Trina’s last wish
that her baby’s not go through life
without a mommy and then we decided to
do something really bright we thought
1617 years ago and I was having more
children it’s worked out lovely and I’m
honored to tell you that we had more
boys I have four boys from 34 years old
all the way down to my daddy’s youngest
grandson who’s here with me this weekend
Joshua
Rigsby sitting on the front row right
there I close with this I close with
this and this will make the point more
salient than any of my previous words
let me take you back to two days before
Trina died no hair because a
chemotherapy could it’s a tummy pooched
out because of a liver no longer working
she weighed about 75 pounds I’m in the
kitchen so I can keep an eye on her in
the family room she’s surrounded by
pillows are the in youngest son Andrew
walks up with a shirt that he wants
mommy to fold and this is what I hear
from Trina Andrew mama not always kind
of be there to help you she was saying
goodbye and I was so moved
I waited for Andrew to leave and I
walked over and I sat next to her on the
couch and as clearly as I’m talking to
you today these were some of her last
words to me she looked me in the eye and
she said it doesn’t matter to me any
longer how long I live what matters to
me most is how I live cadets I’ve come
here with honour with bells on – all one
question a question that I was asked all
my life by a 3rd grade dropout how you
live in how you live in every day asked
yourself that question how you live in
here’s here’s what a cook in the dining
center would suggest you to live this
way that you would not judge that you
would show up early that you’d be kind
that you make sure that that servants
towel is huge and used that if you’re
gonna do something you do it the right
way that that that cook would tell you
this that it’s never wrong to do the
right thing that how you do anything is
how you do everything and in that way
you will grow your influence to make an
impact in that way you will honor all
those who have gone before you who have
invested in you from teachers to
grandparents to mom and dad and when you
combine that academic knowledge with
that wisdom oh my goodness you will
change the world so to the class of 2017
it is with great honor did I say all
your life look in those unlikeliest
places for wisdom enhance your life
every day by seeking that wisdom and
asking yourself every night how am i
living may God richly bless you all
thank you for having me [Applause]
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