Summa Cum Laude
Wow! What can I say other than we are so proud of our little girl. Well she is not so little any more. She is an amazing young lady preparing to enter college. Where did all the time go?
Her Mom and I are so proud of Savannah’s accomplishments achieving a Summa Cum Laude; the highest academic achievement reward her school offers. She is one of a small handful of students to achieve this out of her class of 400+ graduates. Savannah also completed the Honors Forum requirements which beyond the high academic standards they have she had to complete a senior project. Savannahs project was to help a middle school teacher integrate technology into her classroom.

 Savannah is a talented young lady but she did not achieve this honor from talent alone. She has worked hard for it. Many late nights of homework, studying on vacation and forgoing the pleasures so many young people would prefer to do rather than give the hard work and effort it takes to achieve this honor. I’m so proud of the person she has become and the strong value and commitment she has.
Savannah will head off to college this next fall to pursue her career of becoming a Dr. of Pharmacy. I know she will succeed in whatever she does throughout life because she has this drive and passion to be the best person she can be.

Kindergarten Graduation

Savannah Receiving Award

Savannah and Mr A

Savannah and Ms Hill Chemistry Teacher

Wow, I was reading Sam’s blog (Savannah’s Journal) and I guess I screwed up and never read her post about growing up (Enjoy It While You Can). Maybe part of me was afraid to read it! Wow was it moving and in some way reassuring that her mother and I have done a good job raising her. No as most of you parents are murmuring in your heads right now. “A Parents Job is Never Truly Finished” But I am hopeful that all the days when it would have been easier to just be her friend and let her have that one extra treat or item she wanted, her mother and I chose to be just that her caring loving parents and sometimes that means saying No! I’m so proud of my “Baby Girl” She truly is grown into a beautiful caring young woman, but she will always be her mommy and daddy’s “baby girl”
Savannah Always know that daddy and mommy will be here no matter how grown you are to lend a hand, a shoulder to cry on or some money for that new dress you can’t live without. We Love You Baby Girl, now please forgive me as I crouch down behind my computer monitor and shed some tears that my baby girl is grown up.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Here’s a recent essay that I wrote about what I believe in for my Honors Seminar class. Our inspiration for writing this essay was thisibelieve.org. Visit it when you get a chance, it’s fantastic!

One of my parents’ favorite pieces of advice when I was younger was: “don’t grow up too fast.” A young girl growing up in California, I lived for the brilliant sunshine, the blossoming flowers and the beautiful weeping willow tree in my front yard. I devoured fresh fruit by the pound, to the point of making myself sick. I rebelliously snuck out of the sliding glass door of my very own master bedroom and jumped into our aqua-colored pool on the days when the cement was too hot for bare feet. I did not know what I had.

“You’ll miss these days,” my parents would remind me every time I complained about something that I was not old enough to do. I laughed mischievously and smiled at them, asking why I would ever miss not being a “grown up”. They shook their heads and grinned, but insisted that I would become nostalgic in years to come. Like any other eight year old, I ignored their wise advice. I believed my parents to be undeniably incorrect. But what did I know? I was so young—so young and naïve.

In the sweltering summer of 2004, we traveled from the west to the east coast and settled down here in the South. It was quite a change of scenery, but I never minded. In a few years, I no longer associated California with being my home. The details of my Spanish-style, stucco house faded from my memory, replacing themselves with the unsettling anxiety of middle school and shallow concerns of my physical appearance that I later realized were pitiful distresses in the grand scheme of things. I wanted to grow up, did I? Well, here was a bitter taste. Yes, it was a spoonful of harsh reality, but I still spent countless weekend mornings hungrily reading the Inheritance series and many afternoons dreaming up impossible adventures. The idea of “growing up” was so unreal to me that I never saw it as something solid. Rather, it was a cloud of intangible smoke floating languidly, with an air of pompous intimidation, over my head. I thoroughly believed that I would never reach the age of my parents. As far as I knew, there was nothing in the way between me and a life-long childhood, not even time.

I graduated eighth grade and vividly remember sobbing foolishly into the shoulders of my friends. I was overwhelmed by nostalgia, yes, but most of all, I was afraid. I was scared to death of the idea of high school. That was where the “big kids” went to school—the ones that could drive, the ones that dated each other, the ones that would apply for colleges and go all over the country to live by themselves. The idea was outlandish. I was afraid that I would be the one person who would never be able to grasp the reality and, therefore, never succeed. The idea was steadily turning opaque in my mind. It was becoming something solid, but it would take much more time for the idea to fall out of the sky and into my hands, making me tumble to the ground with it.

Contrary to my beliefs, freshman year as a part of Ridge View’s Scholars Academy was one of the most exciting years of my life. Adrenaline rushed through me with new academic challenges—I had a strong sense of pride at my fast-paced, intense learning. In addition, I made new friends who helped me realize what exactly my true identity was as they learned to love both my sarcastic and compassionate sides. Even though I was balancing stressful schoolwork and attempting not to drive myself off the edge, the real dose of reality did not come until the summer before my junior year.

There was something about becoming a junior that made this idea of adulthood much more real. It seemed to make my early adolescence quickly shrink away and that translucent cloud of smoke transformed into a very real, very solid idea that fell onto me and, as I had expected, made me collapse under its weight. As a seventeen-year-old girl, I am now expected to drive. I am expected to get a job. I am expected to be a role model of utmost sincerity to both my friends and my siblings. I am expected to be a perfect student—because the competition is tightening and so is the time. Adult responsibilities are setting in. College is only a year ahead of me. I am close to living on my own. I will have to be even more frugal, careful and responsible. Sometimes, it forces me to stay up at night, thinking through it all, devising a specific, foolproof plan of action. I often ask myself how I will do it. I ask how I got this far. But, most importantly, I ask myself how I grew up so fast.

My parents were correct. How is that for cliché? I do miss my childhood. I do miss the days of running barefoot through lush, green grass. I do miss drawing pictures on the sidewalk outside my house. I do miss the long days of play and the long nights of sleep. I do miss the days when my only responsibilities were things like cleaning my room and brushing my teeth. Now, I’ve grown up.

If you’re wondering, yes, I’ve come to terms with it. I understand what is expected of me and I understand what I must do to get to a secure place in my life. A lot of careful thought, even more hard work and a passionately optimistic attitude should get you that far.

So, I beg of you this one thing: always cherish the beauty of your childhood; not only your childhood, but any beautiful, exciting, meaningful moment in your life that you can share with the people you love. Do not let go of the time to enjoy every breath that life gives you, because one day, when you have it all figured out, you can use that breath to blow away that intimidating, translucent cloud of smoke.

This is a picture of Savannah and I in Asheville. I just love it and thought I would share.

Hello all, I have not blogged much lately with work being so crazy, I’m sure some of you follow Savannahs Blog and some of the post she has been putting up. SavannahsJounal.com I wanted to share this post with all of you who don’t follow her blog.

Chances Are…
Chances are, if you live in American society, that you are privileged. Chances are, you may take the world around you for granted. Chances are, you haven’t been exposed to the harsh realities that the rest of the world must often face. As an American citizen myself, I always knew that these were possibilities to prove the shallow life that I was living, but never did I so clearly understand them until a humbling trip to Belize City and the story of a girl’s life that sent chills down my spine.

My family had decided to take a vacation on a Carnival cruise line to enjoy the laid-back, relaxing Caribbean air. Impatiently looking forward to the tropical atmosphere, the last thing we expected was to learn so much about the hidden secrets of the world that we so casually inhabited. The experience opened both our eyes and our hearts to how our lives were filled with ceaseless opportunities and how much we could give to those who were deprived of the chance of such a content lifestyle.

Her name is Kavitha— an exotically beautiful, coffee-skinned Indian girl with long black hair, deep, round brown eyes and a longing for adventure, love and, most importantly, family. Working at a small handbag shop at the port, she met my mother as she perused the bags displayed on the overcrowded shelves. My mother, born with the gift of endless curiosity and an amiable personality, began talking to Kavitha and I could tell, from the pleading glow in her eyes, that the girl ached for my mother’s careful attention more than breathing.

The rest is a blur of color and emotion. Many smiles, tight hugs and wistful tears later, we found ourselves back on the ship with Kavitha’s email address stashed safely in my father’s pocket. There was something about the girl that made my parents smile when her name was said, extend their arms out to her, speak to her in the most soothing tones.

“She craves the family that she never had… the childhood that was stolen from her.” my mother explained slowly, tears in her eyes still present as a result of Kavitha’s latest email, informing us of her horrific past in India.

She was a child with everything that she could ask for. She was part of a very wealthy, prestigious family and attended a Christian private school, though devoutly Hindu. All of this changed with the untimely murder of her family and the revocation of her inherited property by her own aunt. As if this was not enough torture, at age nineteen she was engaged to be married to a very distinguished young man. He convinced her to go to Belize to work for a few years while he straightened things out with his family. When she was settled into Belize, he broke off the marriage and she has been forced to work there for over four years since. She works six days a week and well over ten hours a day, unaware of what her salary is. It is unnerving to know that, as an adult, she is still being kept in the dark.

Since this experience, Kavitha has become a part of our family. She calls my parents “Mom” and “Dad” while we are her “siblings”. Although she is many miles away, we hope to give her a loving family to console and nurture her. The only realization stronger than understanding what you are continuously blessed with, is that, chances are, there are people who love you and care about the next breath you take.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 at 9:02 am and is filed under Blog-About Me!.

This is a picture of our newest family member!! We are proud to call her our daughter.

We are at the Bele Chere festival.

Location:Patton Ave,Asheville,United States

Mommy got the kiddos archery lessons today. They are having lots of fun.

Location:Raceway Dr SW,Concord,United States

Logan got his braces removed today. He is sure excited not to have those anymore. 2 down and 1 to go.

We went to London’s science awards today. She won 2 awards, 1 for Central SC 6th grade project and one for USC Sumter Physical Sciences Junior Div. London also received a $50.00 savings bond too. We are very proud of her.

Location:Bull St,Columbia,United States