Saturday Morning in East Tennessee 05/22/2005 11:00P Did an enjoyable and renewing graduation speech yesterday, at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport. A beauiful Tennessee morning on the football field with about 340 graduates. While I was politely and warmly received, I kept in mind the Gary Trudeau admonition that graduation speeches are important because you shouldn't let new graduates out into the world unsedated. It was a clear, cool morning, with a handsome graduating class and a lot of proud parents--a snapshot of the best of Tennessee and American life. I love being a part of graduations like this one, because they are so genuine and remote from the world of Capitol Hill politics. I work to keep in mind that there are two Tennessees: one in a half mile circle around the capitol and the other the rest of our state. I was firmly in the big and real Tennessee yesterday. What remains with me most today however is the student who wasn't there. One of the graduating seniors, Chris Howell, was drowned on Boone Lake earlier in the week. Several of his friends accepted his high school diploma at the beginning of the ceremony. His mother was there to watch--he had no brothers or sisters she told me--and I talked with her for a few minutes afterward, before whe went back to the lake; at the time of the ceremony, Chris's body had not yet been found. I can't even imagine what that woman was going through. I hope any readers of this will say a prayer for Chris and his family and give their own children an extra hug. Phil Bredesen