MCGREGOR, TX — Students who have passed are being remembered at a Central Texas graduation Friday.
Trayvon Thomas, Lisa "B.B." Williams and Rhett Herring all would be graduating Friday, but unfortunately passed before they could walk that stage.
Lisa "B.B." Williams passed away in 2012 while in the fifth-grade. Rhett Herring passed away as a freshman in an ATV accident in 2015 and Trayvon Thomas drowned in a community pool in the sixth-grade.
They all would be graduating this and year at McGregor High School and their families are walking the stage in their honor.
"It means everything. Once you have a child doing their final walk, you want to be there for everything," Ricky Thomas Jr. said. Thomas is walking for his son Trayvon.
McGregor ISD contacted the families of the three lost students and offered them to walk and receive what would have been their diploma.
Superintendent James Lenamon says they wanted to try to provide some type of closure to these families.
"These families are still a part of our community they have siblings that are still coming through school and everybody wants the memory of their child to live on," Lenamon said.
Thomas never thought he would get to see his son's diploma but thanks to McGregor ISD he is getting that chance. Not only receiving what would have been his diploma but hearing his name called means the world to Thomas.
"It's a big relief," Thomas said.
Laura Garrett, Trayvon's mother, said she's just touched for what she thought she would never get to see happen.
"I know I think about him all the time, but I didn't actually realize other people was actually still thinking about him," Garrett said.
Never going a day without thinking about their son. It's bittersweet for Thomas and Garrett.
"There's a special love and just joy for Trayvon, I miss him so much it's unreal." Garrett said.
"I'm very proud of him, I'm very proud of him," Thomas said.
While other students are entering a new chapter, Thomas will finally get a little bit of comfort in his.
"I wouldn't mind walking along across the stage, I told her it was a chapter in my life I could finally close," Thomas said.
There will be three empty chairs representing where the three would have sat at graduation.
McGregor High School is hosting their ceremony on their football field at 8 p.m. Friday. If the weather is bad, the ceremony will be moved to the gym.
