Jake was excited. He was graduating in one week and he had a big surprise for his dad.

"Hey buddy," Alan said, "Are you excited about graduation?"

"Yeah. Oh and I got accepted to NYU on a football scholarship. The letter just came today."

Jake handed him the letter.

Alan hugged him proudly.

"Oh and I have a surprise for you," he said, "It's something I know you will love."

"What is it," Alan asked.

"You'll see next week," Jake said.

...

"Now lets hear from our valedictorian. This young man applied and to be honest he is not the type of person we would normal pick. As you know we base the decision not on grades but on character and who has made the most progress throughout the years in school."

"I wonder who it is," Alan whispered to Charlie.

"Now put your hands together for our school Valedictorian Jacob David Harper."

Alan looked like he was going to fall out of his seat.

"JAKE is validation!"

Jake walked over to the microphone and spoke.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen," Jake began.

"I am not easy to love. I am ornery at best and downright impossible at worst. Honestly my dad would have been completely right to just give up on me. He never did though. My mom died when I was in 9th grade and my dad took over full custody of me. I was a mess. My dad disciplined me plenty; in fact I think I spent most of my tenth grade year being grounded.

"But never once did my dad ever give up on me. Never once did my dad ever not love me. Every night he would spend hours talking with me to the point where I would get BOARD. He listened to my ideas and tried them. Sometimes it would work. Other times it wouldn't. But he always said, 'I believe in you and you can do this.'

"School is hard work. LIFE can be harder. Sometimes the winds are knocked out of your sails and you don't know what to do. But really having someone you can depend on is key. My father taught me three lessons. These are the lessons I'm going to impart to you. First, it's okay to make mistakes you can just try again.

Secondly when you have someone who loves you then you will be alright no matter what. The third thing I learned is life is hard but we are stronger. Congraduations graduates of high school."

Jake stepped off of stage and went over to give his dad a hug.

"Jake," Alan said, "That was the most beautiful thing I ever heard. I am so proud of you."

"You're the one who made me the person I am today dad," Jake said hugging him.

Disclaimer: I don't own Two and A Half Men. In my HS GPA didn't determine who was valedictorian. Instead it was determined by an application process and character.