By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

EAST PROVIDENCE — Among the graduates of East Providence High School Saturday, few could say they had attended their parent’s graduation as well. But Justin Gonsalves was there to watch his father, James Sherrod, obtain his diploma from the same high school 16 years ago.

In June of 1993, Times photographer Richard Kelley captured Sherrod, clad in his red cap and gown, playing with then three-year-old Justin. Under the headline, “A Proud Son,” Justin is seen smiling and touching the tassel on his 19-year-old father's mortarboard.
On Saturday, Sherrod was there to pose with a Times photographer once again as “the proud father” with the now 19-year-old Justin as he wore his own crimson-colored Townie cap and gown.
“The moment that photographer took that picture, I thought of this day. I had that vision that I would make this happen,” said Sherrod. “I knew that one day, this was going to be documented.”
Both father and son look happy in the newspaper photo. But obtaining that diploma had been a struggle for the teenage dad, who found himself thrust into adulthood much sooner than he had anticipated. Sherrod said he had just turned 16 when he received the news that his 14-year-old girlfriend was pregnant. To make matters worse,  the couple had broken up a couple of months previous. He was told about the pregnancy when his girlfriend was seven months along.
The ninth grade was an especially difficult time for Sherrod. He experienced several deaths in his family and his son was born that same year. His schoolwork suffered, and he had to stay back and repeat the grade. Being a new father also meant that the teenager could no longer find the time to play on the high school's basketball team. “I had to find a job,” he said.
Through it all, Sherrod managed to graduate from high school, but admitted that at the time that newspaper photo was taken, he was not exactly a picture of success. “I was not serious about my education,” he stated. “ I had no job, no resources. It didn't look too good for me.”
Sharrod added that, in contrast to most of his classmates on graduation day,  “I felt old.” He added, “ I always felt, like, 10 years ahead of my time.”
Sherrod said that he and Justin's mother, Jule Gonsalves, stayed in touch even though they did not reunite as a couple. For many years, the two teens both lived with their families at the Kent Farm Village housing complex, although Justin and his mother resided in a different building. “We were separated, but we were still pretty close as parents. We tried to make it work for our son,” he said.
Sherrod said that Gonsalves, who lives in East Providence, also pursued job training and now works as a nurse's aid. He said he wants to thank her, along with the other teachers and mentors who helped Justin along the sometimes rocky road from childhood to adulthood.
Sherrod said that Justin's high school years did not always go smoothly for him, either. “He struggled to get it done,” he admitted. However, now that Justin has graduated, he will be living with Sherrod at his home in Cranston. He plans on pursuing secondary training with either the Job Corps or the U.S. Navy. “I'm so proud of him. And it's all about him, now,” Sherrod said.