I am honored to be here under the graduation tree to address the Forman class of 1998, and to share in this exciting moment.

I look out today across this sea of bright faces and I am very, very proud.

I have met only a few of you but in many ways I feel a true kinship with every one here. Not only because my son and daughter sat in those same seats when they graduated from Forman in 1989 and 1990. And not just because we share similar circumstances, having faced the difficulties of LD to reach this important achievement. But rather because today feels like I am meeting the rest of my family.

Look around you and you will know: there is something here that binds us together. What is it that makes you feel such love in your hearts today? What puts smiles on your faces and excitement in your eyes?

We are all - every one of us - part of the Forman family.

Years from now, you will remember this extended family. You will remember the support they gave and the friendship you shared - and you will draw strength from knowing that you will always be part of this place.

You will remember the love your parents and family gave when you struggled at school, or read your first book. You will remember the teachers and house parents at Forman, who gave you courage and wisdom when you had doubts. And you will remember your friends - friends who stayed up until midnight telling stories and sharing secrets. Friends who were there for you like brothers and sisters to help you overcome moments of discouragement that others would have a hard time even imagining. Friends who made you feel like you belonged.

This family is your support structure. They have given you gifts that you will carry long after you leave this campus.

But there are many other members of the Forman family who are not here today.

As we gather under the graduation tree I can not help but think of all those before us who passed beneath these branches. They gave of themselves, and improved our lives.

I also think of those generations yet to come, who will benefit from your achievements and contributions.

Where will our family be in five years? Ten years? Fifty years?

Close your eyes and imagine. The year is 2015. My knees are now 67 years old and creaky. But they are good enough for a walk around the campus of the Forman school in Litchfield, Connecticut. It is now just one of 75 affiliates across the country.

I pass by a classroom and see students with virtual reality helmets on. They are learning with all of their senses engaged - seeing, hearing, touching ... even smelling. These students are not frustrated. They are learning with passion! With confidence! And at a remarkable rate. Their learning differences were identified before they started school - a big improvement over 1998, when more than half of those with LD were still struggling without training. Their counterintuitive thinking has also enabled them to ask questions and see new ideas that others simply miss.

I smile and look across the quad. There are dozens of kids with funny hairdos and clothing running to class. One of them scoots past me on route to the newly dedicated Ali Demers communication center - another heads off to the D.J. Napolitano Institute for business.

Next, a group of students strolls by deep in discussion and step inside the Max Glazer science building. A second later, a young woman with a hockey stick under her arm jets past me on an air glider - and zips down the path to the Jane Schlesinger sports arena.

So much growth ... so much progress! The Forman family has done well since I last visited campus - and my next stop at the newly renovated Carpenter Administration Building explains why. As I roam the halls looking for a place to rest my weary knees, I read some of the bronze plaques that line the walls.

One of them says: In honor Ofliza Libman, occupational therapist. Who developed visual-based communication tools for the workplace. Another plaque honors the collaborative work of Susan Schonfeld and Sam Whiteley, whose Nobel-Prize winning efforts focus on early detection and education techniques. Greg Szeyko is also honored with a plaque - his love for architecture is reflected in several new buildings on campus. And then there is a plaque for Jonathan Gibson, the world-famous actor and director, who has used the public stage to speak out about dyslexia and what parents can do to help their children succeed.

The plaques go on and on, throughout the halls of many buildings here at Forman, with stories of giving and growth, of brilliant achievement and generous contributions. These stories demonstrate the power of giving - the seeds we plant today that will grow for generations to come. They are legacies of the Forman family gathered here in 1998, and a glimpse of the bright future that is in your hands.

Of course, the Forman family history did not begin in 1998. Come with me now as we travel back in time.

Imagine that it is 1917. John Forman is 12 years old when he meets Julie Ripley. Julie gives John inspiration and support, to help him accomplish his dreams. The original Forman family - missionaries who built many schools - also gave John a strong sense of values. Forman becomes an educator, fascinated by innovative techniques that help young people with learning differences.

But there are no special schools at this time. And most dyslexics either wind up in sweat shops making petty wages - or in prison, where 70-90% of the inmates have learning disabilities. So John and Julie begin the Forman school and by the early 1940s, their school is giving individual attention, love and support to about 65 boys and girls.

Forman once said: "Give today so that the world will be better tomorrow." That sentiment is the reason the Forman family has continued to give - and continued to grow - for generations since.

When the school fell on hard times in 1940, John Forman went to families and friends for help. The students pulled together as well - some of them even offered to give up their savings accounts to save the school they loved so much. It was this same sense of family that drove the teachers of Forman to give back in the Fall of 1971. While many teachers at city schools were striking for higher pay, Forman teachers took a 10 percent pay cut to keep the school's doors open.

There are many more recent family members who continue to help Forman grow today. Like Fred Lione, a former trustee, whose daughter graduated from Forman in 1991. Think of Fred as our uncle in the family construction business. Fred gave with his heart and muscle. Working through serious illness, he built and repaired many of the structures around us.

Or how about the parents here today?

By next school year, the quad will be filled with new students who will benefit from the contributions some of you have made. To my right, a new student center will stand, thanks to parents of current students. To my left, will be the new Beecher House, thanks to parents, alumni and friends. And of course, everyone has benefited from the Johnson Arts Center, the gift of an alumnus whose daughter also graduated from Forman. We are very fortunate to have such a loving family at Forman, giving with all their heart, to create a better way.

Look back in time again for a moment, back to 1958, in a town about 200 miles from the Forman campus. There is a small boy there, singing at the top of his lungs in church, with all the enthusiasm and gusto of the hopelessly innocent. I hear him bellow out the first hymn: "Praise dog for whom all blessings flow..." And another: "Pears to the lord..." By the end of the service, even I know that the laughter is about me. I close the hymnal and do not open it again for years.

I still see that boy today, every time I read a report, or do the numbers, or look at a graph. And especially when I do what I am doing right now. The sound of laughter has not completely gone away - as I am sure it has not for many of you.

Yet we have all achieved a level of success that we owe to ourselves, and to those who gave of themselves along the way.

Things may be better now, but it can still be a hard, cruel world out there. The bullies you met on the playground are still out there in college, in the workplace, in life.

The point is, we all need a support system to rely on, to help us when we feel uncertain or afraid. And to keep us centered when we are insecure or anxious.

For me, those people were my minister, who eventually recognized that I was not just a wise-cracking kid looking for attention. He trusted me to keep a hymnal at home so that I could memorize the words. They were my mother and father, who gave me their love and patience, and hired tutors to help me read with confidence. They were the four friends Ii had in grammar school, who gave of themselves and looked out for me when I was labeled an idiot for being in the third reading group. They are my wife and children, who are here in the audience today, giving me love and confidence to stand before you. And they are the Forman family, who was here for my son and daughter, who taught them and cared for them, and helped them succeed.

My daughter Jennifer went on to Lynchburg College and is now studying to be a nurse. My son George went to the University of Denver and is now at Motorola. The Forman family was there for my children and gave them a better way. The future of the better way is now in your hands!

I want to leave you with a story that has a special meaning as we sit together under this big tree today.

It is one of my favorite children's books, called The Giving Tree, and it was written by Shel Silverstein more than three decades ago.

It begins, Once there was a tree ... and she loved a little boy. Every day, the boy would come and gather her leaves. He would swing from her branches and climb her trunk. He sat in her shade and he ate her apples. The boy loved the tree very much, and the tree was very happy. But time went by and the tree was often alone.

One day the boy returned to the tree. He was older now and needed money to live. So the tree gave him her apples to sell in the city. The boy carried her apples away. And the tree was very happy.

Many years passed before the boy returned. This time he told the tree he needed wood so that he could build a home for his family. The tree gave him her branches, and once again she was happy. When the boy's family had grown and moved on, and the boy had aged many years, he returned to the tree.

The tree offered him her trunk so that he could build a boat and sail away. And so he did, and the tree was very happy. After a very long time, the boy returned once again, when the tree was just a stump, and the boy was very, very old.

She told the boy that she was sorry, that she had nothing left to give. But the boy was old and didn't need very much. So the tree gave him a quiet place to sit and rest. And they were both very, very happy.

The point of the story is that there are many ways to give. As you accept your diplomas today, you will receive a gift from my family - a reminder of this story and your days here at Forman.

It is a coin - a talisman - that reads: "Give of yourself, and we shall grow." Let it act as a symbol of your support structure, of those who love you, and those who care. Take it out and look at it, on days when you want to give up, when people say you can not do it, and when you doubt your own abilities. Treasure it - when you feel far away, when you are discouraged and alone, and let it remind you of where your roots are. Keep it in your jewelry box, or carry it with you as a badge of honor, and know that your learning difference can be your advantage, rather than your undoing. Long after you cannot remember my name, this coin will be there to remind you that the Forman family will always be with you, giving again and again, with every new challenge.

I also hope it will help you remember the importance of carrying on the Forman family tradition - the tradition of giving so that others may grow. Every new generation benefits from those before them.

This is especially important for us, because research now tells us that dyslexia runs in families. So there is a very good chance that your children will be dyslexic, too.

What will the future be like for your sons and daughters? It is in your hands!

Putting up a new building or giving money is not the only way to make a difference. Give love and support to each other. Spread the word and educate others. Bring new members to our family. Help a first-grader to read, or come back and talk to next year's students.

But most of all, in everything you do, give of yourself! And we shall continue to grow forever.

Thank you.