6-year-old's touching graduation speech remembering late mom leaves audience in tears

Children indeed have a way of saying both the most adorable and heartwarming things. One six-year-old moved an audience to tears talking about his late mother in his graduation speech. Jaxon Carter's "beautiful mommy" Taryn Marie Gainey died in an apartment fire last July. Parents, teachers and fellow students at New Dawn Academy, a public STEM-focused charter school in Sterling Heights, Michigan, got emotional as the kindergarten student delivered the nearly four-minute speech from memory. "I had to find a school for him last minute and it just so happened that the school was a great fit for him," Jaxon's dad Justin Carter told Good Morning America. "The school alone was a lifesaver. His teacher asked him if he could give a little speech. The little speech turned into a full valedictory speech."

Jaxon was just 5 years old when he lost his mother and it was just a month before he started kindergarten. Despite the tragedy, he managed to excel in school. Winning his class spelling bee, he received honors in most of his subjects and graduated as valedictorian from his class. For the big day, he even decorated his cap with a picture of his mom, Taryn Gainey per WXYZ. Jaxon worked on the speech with his grandmother Linda Howard-Carter. Dad Justin wasn't allowed to hear it before graduation day. He was in for a surprise when he heard his son pay tribute to his late mom.

"When I started kindergarten at New Dawn Academy in August 2022, I was a little 5-year-old who had lost my beautiful mother a month before," Jaxon said, pausing and taking a long breath after delivering that line. "I learned to play with other kids, read books, answer or ask questions like how or why, use correct grammar, and use my school tablet."

He continued, "My kindergarten year helped me grow braver, smarter, kind-hearted, and more grateful." Jaxon went on to thank his teacher whom he described as someone with a "big heart" and said, "When I was sad, she used to tell me it would be all right." He also thanked all his four grandparents, who are helping to raise him, as well as his father, giving him a "special thank you," saying, "You are the best daddy ever and I love you so very much."

"I dedicate my speech, good grades all my awards and my kindergarten graduation to my beautiful mommy who I will always love and miss so very much. I know she will always be with me in my heart," the little boy added. His speech stunned not just the audience but his father as well. He said he was "shocked and speechless" watching his son deliver such a moving address. "The expressions, the words, everything that he was saying, you could see that he meant every word of it," he said. "He didn't fumble. It was remarkable."