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May 27, 2004
By JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS
Staff writer
The candid smile on Jason Santora's face belies the challenges he's had to overcome in his young life.
At age 2 he was diagnosed with leukemia.
The cancer did not survive. Santora did.
Today Santora, who turned 19 last month, will receive his high school diploma, along with 158 of his fellow seniors
at Hamilton High School.
To Santora, a special education student, it is a proud and grand achievement.
The powerful drugs administered to him to rid his pint-size body of cancer resulted in damage to his brain, and in
later years served to make the simple not so simple.
But he has worked and studied hard, and he has earned the diploma he collects tonight.
As Santora shares the joy of this accomplishment, he admits he's sad to be leaving his friends, and the teachers and
staff he has grown to care about. He said he'll miss school.
"I'm going to miss it a lot," he said, one of the few times the smile disappears momentarily.
"I'll miss helping others," said the young man, described by staff and teachers as kind, friendly and generous
to a fault.
"He is our office helper," said Connie Yonker, athletic secretary at the high school. She said Santora has
volunteered countless times to sell tickets and work the concession stand at games.
"We know we can depend on Jason. ... He goes out of his way to help others," she said.
One recent Christmas, each of the high school secretaries received gifts Santora had bought for them hand-painted
tree ornaments depicting children at play.
Santora lives with his father, Mark, in Allegan, along with sisters Jessica, 16, and Laura, 15, and his grandfather,
Vern. His mother, Loretta Santora, lives in Muskegon.
Santora is apprehensive about life beyond school. It's not that he doesn't have plans.
"I have a dream to become a landscaper," he said, boasting that he's been mowing lawns since he was 5.
But the structure of school is all he's known for 13 years, and he admits he's nervous about the days ahead, saying
he is not yet ready to live on his own.
Santora's teacher, Carin VonIns, said her tight-knit class is like a family.
"It's almost like he's moving out of the house," she said, with a caring grin in his direction.
Asked what emotions he was feeling in the days leading to his commencement, Santora was thoughtful.
"My life is flashing before my eyes," he said. "I've met so many friends, and teachers ... I have a
lot of memories."
He may be wary of the future, but something miraculous has happened in Santora's life that has lifted his spirits
to the clouds and beyond.
When he was a freshman at Hamilton his class went on a field trip to Rivertown Crossings mall in Grandville.
During a restroom break Santora took off his brand new class ring to wash his hands. It wasn't until the group was
back at school that he realized he'd left the ring behind.
He'd had the prized possession for less than a month.
More than three years passed, and while the sting of the loss had faded somewhat, each new school year and excited
freshmen showing off their rings brought back the loss.
Then two weeks ago, a woman in Grand Rapids who identified herself only as Mary contacted the high school. She said
her young boy had found a Hamilton High School class ring in the yard, and she wondered if anybody was missing one.
She said the name "Jason" was carved into the ornate silver ring, and "Class of 2004."
A few more phone calls and a couple of days later, and the ring was back on Santora's right hand.
VonIns believes the story of the ring parallels Santora's life. For as long as he can remember he's been helping others,
sometimes strangers.
This time someone else, someone named Mary, did something nice for him.
"It's a miracle ... and the timing couldn't be better," VonIns said.
As he prepared for tonight's ceremony and pondered his future, Santora looked down at his ring and his smile grew
wide again.
"I'm very lucky," he said.
Contact John Charles Robbins at john.robbins@hollandsentinel.com or (616) 546-4269.
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