One of the most rewarding things in life is to watch people you care about grow up and come into their own! This past weekend, we visited our goddaughters in Northern CA. Overnight, these amazing girls grew up and are now 10 and 12 years old - the 12 year old is as tall as my wife and the 10 year old is catching up quickly.
Every Spring, with a few exceptions, we visit our family in NoCAL to see our goddaughters in their annual play/musical. We have been treated to some of the most endearing and entertaining performances over the years – in one case, we saw a girl play Peter Pan who could hold her own against anyone on Broadway (it brings me to tears when I see a young person “do their thing” at such a young age). So, why am I writing about it this year? Well, a few things came up for me this weekend.
First, seeing our youngest goddaughter “do her thing” on stage was so moving – especially since her older sister is no longer in the same school with her and, therefore, no longer on stage with her! Not only was she on stage but she was one of the main characters and she was on stage in every scene. She is not only smart, intelligent and artistic but she is an introspective child who is very sensitive! Now, I can confidently add to that list- BRAVE. My chest filled with pride watching her on stage because I know she was probably nervous and “outside her comfort zone” but she got up on that stage and did it anyway and SHE ROCKED IT! I don’t know many adults who are as brave as she is!
She is also an amazing artist – I can’t wait to see what she creates along the way!
My other goddaughter had a basketball game on Sunday and we were treated to 28 minutes of hard-nosed, good basketball! I didn’t learn much about my goddaughter while watching her play basketball – I already knew that she was driven and hardworking. However, watching her game made me reflect on my own life and life in general. I wish some of the spoiled man-children who get paid millions of dollars a year to play basketball for a living in the NBA could have seen these girls play. If they had been there, they would have seen 8 – 7th graders take on a team of 12 girls who were all much larger and more experienced. At the same time, they wouldn’t have seen a single girl on my goddaughter’s team give up for 1 second - they would have seen girls play hard until the final buzzer. They would have seen girls who refused to back down from their larger opponents. They would have seen 28 minutes of hard-nosed basketball and 8 girls who love and respect the game. They would have seen 12 year old girls dive on the floor for balls, take hard fouls, give hard fouls, get hurt and come right back in the game. And, they would have seen phenomenal sportsmanship after these 8 girls lost the game. Finally, they would have seen 8 girls walk off the court proud of themselves because they knew that they gave 100% and nothing less. Again, I am proud.
Finally, I loved watching my goddaughters take care of my son – they were so sweet and loving to him that it really filled my heart to see. I love the fact that they are still good kids who put family first and are less concerned with “looking” cool and more concerned about being true to themselves (by the way, here is a little secret – those are the real cool people). I doubt they will ever read this blog post but I hope they know how proud I/we am/are of them (I will be sure to continue to tell them).
