'He means everything:' Father battling cancer celebrates daughter's graduation with special ceremony

2020 Graduation with father in hospice

MENOMONEE FALLS -- The class of 2020 is experiencing a graduation season unlike any other. For one Menomonee Falls senior, the diploma came early.

Kenyette Edwards

This is not the senior year Kenyette Edwards had pictured.

"It was kind of hard trying to get work done, and then when the quarantine, all the coronavirus stuff started happening it was even more stressful trying to get work done and still talk to your teachers and stuff," said Kenyette Edwards, Menomonee Falls High School.

But Kenyette made it to the finish line: her dad's front yard.

"If he didn’t see this, then I wouldn’t even want a graduation," said Kenyette Edwards.

Her dad looked on the from the porch. He's been at every graduation from Pre-K to today.

Kenny Edwards

"That’s my baby, I got to support," said Kenny Edwards, father.

There is a more official graduation scheduled for next month. But a lung cancer diagnosis means Edwards will most likely not live to see it. Which prompted this special ceremony.

"He means everything. I call him my heart. I call him my world. He’s truly, truly, my everything to me," said Kenyette Edwards.

As Kenyette turns to a new chapter -- her dad has a message for what's next.

Kenyette Edwards

"Stay positive, if it's negative, stay away from it and keep on pushing. There’s still a long ways to go," said Kenny Edwards.

Kenyette hopes to study to become a nurse.