May 2008

May 2008 is the chronological marker for the accidental beginning of Hazel and Byron’s connection. The month’s account links their paths to a college graduation and to a speech Byron delivered there, an event Hazel learned about indirectly before their later conversation about it.

The Commencement Speech

Byron came to the graduation to give what he called a digital commencement speech. Wearing a suit and sunglasses, he announced that he had prepared no speech because the graduates would compose it together. He asked the stadium audience to shout one word for their college experience, then one for their greatest hope, and finally one for what frightened them most about life after graduation.

Hazel’s Connection to the Event

Hazel was not at the ceremony. A college friend had been assigned to interview Byron for the campus newspaper, and Hazel heard about his appearance through news coverage and graduating friends. The account presents meeting Byron as an accident rather than a planned encounter. Later, Byron recounted the audience’s answers to Hazel in an almost-flirtatious manner, turning the public performance into part of their developing personal connection.