Maybe his long lost son or daughter is graduating but he can't be by his/her side because he lost everything and doesn't want him/her to be ashamed by that.
Or maybe he did graduate and went on to fight in the armed forces and when he returned, due to things just didn't pan out for him. So to the op who feels that "you don't see what you have until it's too late".
Maybe he knows exactly what those kids are in for. A world were you've spent years at a desk asking for permission to piss only to be shoved into society and told to exist with barely enough confidence to get a decent job to pay for all of the nice things you dreamed about it high school
Maybe he knows exactly what those kids are in for. A world were you've spent years at a desk asking for permission to piss only to be shoved into society and told to exist with barely enough confidence to get a decent job to pay for all of the nice things you dreamed about it high school