Mariano Twins

Speeches and Diplomas

Jo's POV 

I stand at the podium. My eyes scan the paper in front of me before I take a deep breath. Finally my eyes lift and I look over the gym. I take another deep breath, and then begin speaking.

Family, friends, faculty, welcome. I thank you all for coming here and helping cheer us on. And to my fellow Stars Hollow High graduates, congratulations. We finally did it!

Many of us dreamed of this day, and some of us feared it may have never come.

After years of homework, late night cramming, and many, many anxious moments of waiting to see if all of that work was worth it, I'm happy to tell you all of the homework, tests, and finals are over, you can all take a breath, now.

There are a few people here that I would like to thank specifically.

Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. You were always there. You were, and are my second family. You are two of my best friends. I love you, and I thank you.

Lorelai, you showed me that it's okay to make mistakes, and that our pasts do not define us. Rory, you showed me that a life lived through books is not a life wasted.

Sometimes the stuff on the pages teaches us the best lessons. You both also showed me that the adventures I experience in books are not the only adventures the world holds.

Lane and Rory showed me how much fuller life can be when you have friends to go through it with.

I'm happy to have made two friends as amazing as you two.

Sookie and Jackson, you are two balls of light, and happiness that make mine, and everyone else's lives brighter.

Uncle Luke, you are the real reason I have the chance to be standing up here today.

You saw it in your heart to take in two kids when they needed you most.

No matter what we threw at you, you were always there.

No matter how much we fought you, you were always there to fight for us.

Even if we wanted you to, there was no way, you were going to give up on us and let us fail.

I guess all that hard work paid off.

Thank you, so, so much.

And to the most important person of all, my partner in crime, my best friend, and favorite person in the entire world, my twin brother, Jess Mariano.

We did it. We made it. You made it. No matter how much trouble you caused, you were always there to love and support me.

You make me live a little. You push me to visit the wild side, and I keep you from going too far in.

We are two halves of a whole, but you are definitely your own intelligent, creative, caring, and amazing person.

I love you, big brother.

To my fellow students, the world holds so much for each and everyone of us. Strive for greatness, shoot for the stars, wish for crazy dreams, and work your butts off.

You might fall, and others might as well, but you need to get back up, and keep reaching. Keep fighting.

And make sure to give others a hand because you might become the greatest, but who's there to see you there if you leave them all at the bottom.

Now, Mr. Merton might not like how I'm going to phrase this, but I want all of you to go out there, and kick some ass!

Congratulations, my fellow Minutemen! We have done it!

Everyone starts to cheer. I see all of my friends and family standing as they clap, big smiles on their faces. Most of them are crying, the rest have tears in their eyes.

I step to the side of the podium and take a quick, dramatic bow before walking down the steps and finding my seat next to Jess.

He pulls me into a tight hug and then we sink into our seats. The ceremony continues and soon it's time to start handing out diplomas.

--

Jess and I stand in line at the side of the stage. We are finally on the M's and we are creeping closer and closer to the steps of the stage.

I put my hands on Jess' shoulders and shook him a little.

"We're so close," I tell him.

"I know," he replies.

Finally there are only a few more people in front of us... Now we are making our way up the steps.

"One more Jesse," I say.

"This is it," he says.

"Jess William Mariano," Mr. Merton calls.

I pat his back and he makes his way across the stage. I can hear our little group cheering. He shakes Mr. Merton's hand as he gets handed his diploma books.

He pauses for his picture before continuing down the steps. I clap and tear up, but I don't get to ravish for long because my name quickly follows.

"Josephine Louise Mariano."

I grin as I start walking. I get to Mr. Merton and shake his hand.

"Congratulations, Ms. Mariano," he says.

"Thank you," I reply.

He hands me my diploma book and I get my picture taken. I make my way down the stairs. I only walk down three of the five steps, and then jump.

Instead of going back to his seat Jess is standing at the bottom and catches me. We hug each other tight.

He lets go of me and then I jump on his back. He piggybacks me back to our seats. When we get to our row we pause.

We both stick out tongues out and Lorelai our picture. We laugh and sit back down. Just like at Rory's graduation, Luke and everyone else is crying.

--

"Congratulations Stars Hollow High class of 2003!"

We all stand and throw our caps.

"We did it!" Jess says.

"I know!" I yell back.

The next twenty minutes are spent receiving hugs, and congratulations, before we head back to the diner where we agreed we'd finally break the news to Luke that we're leaving.

\\ AN // -- All grammar, punctuation, and spelling corrections are helpful, encouraged, and greatly appreciated.

Thank you

-- Izzy