Women Power Wednesday - The Home Stretch for Sally B. Singletary

Sally:

On Monday, September 6 of 2010 I launched this private family and friends blog and named it 'Nuggets from Dad'. The stated purpose was something similar to what it still is today: "An almost daily message to Sally during her college years at the University of Georgia . . . expanded later to include Emily at SCAD . . . a fun way to stay connected to my college girls and keep them up-to-date on what is happening in Austin with Lucy."

If my math is right, this is post number 765! We had a nice theme going initially. Remember Make it a Great Monday, Stay Whole Tuesday, Women Power Wednesday, Colloquial Thursday, and Fit as a Fiddle Friday? I tried to post everyday that UGA had class and over time I learned how to share family  pictures. Some stretches have been better than others, but I think overall Nuggets has been successful. It has given me a way to let know how much I love you and how I think of you often. I hope you have enjoyed it throughout your college years.

For some nostalgia, here is what the very first post said:

Hey Sally. "Make it a great Monday." I like that expression. Some people might say, "kick Monday's ass." Same thing. The point is, it is always up to you to start your day, and your week, with a great attitude. It is up to you to take what God is giving you today, and turn it into something good.

We are proud of you!

Pressing onward,

Dad

I've been thinking recently that I want to use Nuggets to give you a small graduation gift over the next several weeks leading into your graduation celebration on May 8-10. I am formulating a little 'graduation send-off series' about some things that I want to share with you . . .

Stay tuned for more on this . . .

Women power,

Dad

Cam's Graduation Dinner

Sally and Cam Fuller

Sally, Cathy and I had a great trip to Dallas to celebrate Cam Fuller's graduation from SMU on Friday evening. We dined at the amazing Hotel St. Germain with Mark, Cindy, Mac, Stewart, Cam, and Scott, as well as Cindy's parents Lou and Dean and friend's of the Fullers, Amy and Peter Malin. It was a memorable meal that started with Amuse Bouche and ended with Chocolate Souffle! Notice four forks to the left of Sally's place setting in the picture with Stewart.

Mark Fuller with a toast for Cam

When I was but a wee little teenager, my dear cousin Mark took me to my first major league baseball games. The Reds swept the Dodgers in a four game July 4th weekend series in Cincinnati, going on the win the division and later the World Series. Picking up on that topic, it looks like the Reds won game one against the Braves last night, 3-1, scoring twice in the 8th. Sorry about that Pop! Game two of two tonight.

Sally and Stewart

Nuggets for Emily's Senior Year

Hey precious girls,

I am going to get back to some written Nuggets in honor of Emily's Senior Year of College - as she prepares to launch into the fashion and business world. You may recall that I wrote a graduation series, for Sally, when she was a Senior and graduating from UGA. There were a list of topics that I had hoped to spend some time writing about, but I never finished the series. I thought I would pick it back up, and publish some thoughts from dad throughout Emily's final year of school.

Here are some of the posts from the previous series:

Women Power Wednesday - The home stretch for Sally B. Singletary

Nuggets for Sally's UGA Graduation

Stay Whole - My guiding five by which I strive

I hope each of you will find some time to review these over the next few weeks. Maybe you can read them when in the gym or at some point on your phones? I know you are all super busy!

Next, I will share how I plan to continue the series and will focus on ten other topics, broken into two groups of five. (You know I like things that come in fives.) The first group represents five topics that I feel I have some level of understanding or self mastery. The second group represents areas or subjects in which I hope to learn more about - opportunities for growth. Remember the two questions we learned as a family years ago? First ask, what did I do well? Then ask, what could I have done better?

Love,

Dad

The Mill

Interrupting my Sally's graduation nuggets series to introduce you to my new client, The Mill. Check out their work here. I am in Chicago today with one of our demo artist and he is reviewing our latest software release with all of the Flame users in the Chicago office. Flame is the name of the software that high end post houses, like The Mill, use to do the special effects work that you see in commercials. Flame is a software package that is sold with purpose built hardware and cost in excess of $100,000 per system! All high end post houses have fancy, edgy office space, because their clients come for client work sessions to review their work. The Mill Chicago is in an old courthouse in downtown Chicago and would remind you of many of the historical buildings that have been renovated at SCAD.

By the way, I will see Mark and Cindy Fuller tonight and fly back to Austin tomorrow morning. Have a great women power Wednesday.

Congrats Ella Parker - IU Graduation

Fun to get these pictures from my buddy Todd Parker this morning. Laura and Todd drove 900 miles (each way) to Bloomington, IN to surprise Ella at her graduation. The next photo reminds me so much of the fan-favorite from Sally's UGA graduation of the girls at the stadium. Ella interned for Hatch and Calvin Klein in NYC for the past two summers. She was able to be in Bloomington for the final stretch taking online classes with her close friends in a house they rented. Good luck Ella!

Nuggets for Sally's UGA Graduation

“Thank you Lord for the things my parents taught me that are working well in my life. I am grateful for these things. And for the things I have learned (from my parents or from others) that are not working in my life, I take full responsibility.”

Sally,

As mentioned previously, I want to write to you during this ‘graduation season’ about a number of topics, some of which I feel I know something about and some of which I am less knowledgeable or skilled in. I want this series of Nuggets to perhaps encourage you to think about these topics, and maybe to also write or dialog about some things in your journal or with others. 

I think they are important topics to think about and to have a certain sense of awareness about as you enter into the next phase of life and ongoing. I hope you will consider these short essays a gift to you, and I hope Emily and Lucy might also read and think about these things as they continue to grow. Ultimately you will want to create your own way of walking in the world, and it does not have to be the same way I do.

There are five overriding themes in these short essays. As I have gotten older, I have decided that these five things should guide me in everything I do. Here they are, my guiding five, by which I strive:

• Everybody has his or her own path.
• Life should be good, fun, and easy.
• This, too, shall pass.
• Wear a smile, and be a friend.
• Stay whole.

I will have a tiny bit to say about each of my guiding five in the days ahead. But remember, these are my five things, and they don’t have to be yours (note #1 - everybody has their own path.) I am repeating myself, but it is important to me that you know that this is a gift intended to get you thinking about life, life transitions, dreams, and opportunities. It is not meant to be preachy or exact in nature. It is far more important that you form your own way of approaching life than trying to emulate my way or anyone else for that matter.

After touching on each of my guiding five, most of which you have heard me talk about before, I will strive to write about ten other topics, broken into two groups of five. (You know I like things that come in fives.) The first group represents five topics that I feel I have some level of understanding or self-mastery. The second group represents areas or subjects in which I hope to learn more - opportunities for growth. Remember the two questions we learned as a family years ago? First, ask, what did I do well? Then ask, what could I have done better? You might think of these two sets of topics as my attempt to answer those two questions.

First five: Some sense of mastery or understanding (What did I do well?)

• On love, marriage, and family
• On exercise and health
• On happiness, contentment, change, and loss
• On spirituality, religion, prayer, and meditation
• On adventure, spontaneity, and intuition

Second five: Opportunities to learn and grow (What could I have done better?)

• On money, stuff, and things
• On fear and anxiety
• On addiction and rituals
• On business and partnerships
• On music, art, and dance

In closing this introductory post, let me say that you are truly a gift to your mom and me. And writing to you over the next few weeks is a special thing. How wonderful and amazing that I have a daughter who has been such a joy to raise and who has set such a great example for her sisters and her friends! So thank you for being the person you have become, and may God continue to bless you in all you do.

Love,

Dad

Lucy - LLYC (Echo Valley)

June 9, 2012

A letter from a loving father to his third born daughter at LLYC (Echo Valley!)

My dearest daughter Lucy,
 
It is my custom to start this annual letter with the same opening paragraphs, and I see no reason to start this one any other way. This is the eighth consecutive summer that we have had at least one daughter at Laity Lodge Youth Camp. We always look forward to making the beautiful drive into the Hill Country in early June, stopping in Fredericksburg for lunch, continuing out towards Leaky and eventually down the Foundation Camp dirt road into the Frio Canyon River Bed. “Yes you drive in the river,” says the sign!
 
It is my wish that you are reading this letter all alone in a quiet and beautiful place. Please don’t continue until you find a quiet place where you are all alone. I hope these words will be meaningful to you. I am attempting to share some thoughts I believe will serve you well as you enter this next year of your life. It is always a time of reflection and prayer when I write this letter. We are so blessed to have each other and to have such a special and loving extended family.
 
Before continuing will you do me a favor? I want you to look around and breathe deeply and notice the beauty of the earth. Notice the big things and the small things. Notice the sky and the ground. Look as far as your eyes can see, and say to yourself, “I want to make my world a big and beautiful world.” It is your choice to always make your world big and inclusive, not small and petty.
 
Now look down at the ground, and look for something very small (like an ant or a twig) and pray that God will help you always notice and celebrate the little things in life, for those things are also very important and impactful. Close your eyes and imagine your father, your mother, and your sisters - all praying for you to have another truly remarkable experience at Laity Lodge. Please take a few minutes to do this before continuing.

Lucy, let’s go back in time 12 plus years. Here is how it all started, copied from a document we wrote before your birthday a few years back - the one where we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then you went to the Taylor Swift Concert with your mom, Grace, and Ms. Carpenter.

On March 13, 2000 Baby Lucy came into the world at 9AM with an operating room full of specialists and surgeons prepared to rush her to surgery. After a series of tests that lasted all morning, the doctors announced that Lucy was perfectly healthy!

What a glorious day. We named her after her maternal great, great grandmother Lucelia VanPatton and in honor of our long friendship with our dear friend Ricky May and his parents. At the time, Ricky’s father, Grandpa May, was gravely ill, though he recovered. A couple of years later, we were all saddened by the loss of Ricky’s mom after a battle with cancer. There is no doubt in our minds that a little bit of Louise May lives on in the young life and spirit of Lucelia May Singletary. In fact, Ms. May made that very clear upon the naming of Lucy—when she stated that it would be necessary for Lucy to be smart, pretty, and witty if we were to use the family name! I am pleased to report that she is hitting on all cylinders.

Lucy, your sixth grade school year has been another time of remarkable growth. Your mom and I are so proud of you. You made one of the all-time smoothest transitions to middle school that any kid has ever made. It was such a joy to watch you learn each day and to watch how well you adapted socially. Just like your big sisters, you ‘stay within yourself’ and you stay true to yourself in a very age appropriate way. I pray that you will be able to continue to do so, as each year there will be more peer pressure to move faster and to experience new things - some of which are not healthy choices. Uncle Ricky always says, “Let the game come to you” and this is such a great phrase for growing up in our fast-moving world and community. I know you understand this. 

I have been thinking how cool it was that you started every morning this year at Cedar Creek Elementary School, saying hello to your 5th grade teachers and then walking with your friends to Hill Country. That was such a symbolic way to ‘stay age appropriate’ - paying tribute to your past and to the teachers who helped prepare you for middle school.   I hope you continue doing that next year and the next? Then, when you go to high school, you will have a nice little morning run from Hill Country Middle School to Westlake High School! (Just kidding.)
 
Lucy, I can tell a lot about how well-adjusted you are by the friends you keep. That was fun for me last week when we went to Howdy Donuts with your buddies. I thought our conversation was really special about ‘self-branding’ and asking each girl to describe themselves in one sentence or less. I was very impressed with the thoughtful descriptions your friends and you gave of yourselves. Each of you stressed an appreciation for being unique and passionate about something. Each of you had an element of keeping your bodies healthy from a physical standpoint. Each of you showed a willingness to learn and grow your talents. And there was also a strong spiritual component to each girls’ self-description.
 
You know I love Stephen Covey’s quote: “I will tap my talents and fuel my passions in a way that rises out of a great need in the world that I am drawn to by conscience to meet, for therein lies my voice, my true-calling, my soul’s code.” Notice how the bold words in Covey’s quote contrast to the paragraph above. Life is a journey of ups and downs, and we are not always hitting on all cylinders, but it helps to understand these different capacities and to always remember the importance of balancing our time mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
 
Covey says this about the above. “When you study the lives of all great achievers--those who have had the greatest influence on others, those who have made things happen--you will find a pattern. Through their persistent efforts and inner struggle, they have greatly expanded their four native human intelligences or capacities. The highest manifestations of these four intelligences are: for mental, vision; for the physical, discipline; for the emotional, passion; for the spiritual, conscience. These manifestations also represent our highest means of expressing our voice.”
 
Yes Lucy, it is important and good to stretch and challenge yourself in each of these areas. I know you did this during this past year. For example, you made such amazing progress with your dance. I know that you did not accomplish one of your main goals and that it was disappointing not to make ADE. But you can use that experience as motivation and encouragement to move forward, to redirect and re-energize towards new goals and new challenges. We were all so impressed with your beautiful dancing. Sally could not believe how advanced those dances were and how strong of a dancer you have become!   
 
I always take the time in this letter to let you know how much I love your mom. I want you to know that I think your mom is the most amazing woman on the planet. I love her dearly and it is my deepest wish that all three of my daughters will one day find a man who loves them as much as I love your mom. She does so much to try and make your world, and that of your sisters, a good and safe world to grow up in, so please remember to show your appreciation and love to your mom.
 
It has been a wonderful year for your sisters as well. Sally is doing great at UGA and has found a field of study that she loves. Her internship in New York is going well and we are proud of her for putting herself out there each and every day. Emily’s graduation season was a time of great celebration, as we prepare to launch her off to SCAD. She is also a remarkable young woman with so much to offer the world. She has so much talent in the design field and she is a fabulous golfer. It will be fun to continue to cheer Sally and Emily towards their dreams.
 
As I do each year while you are at Laity Lodge, I am going to pray that God will speak to your heart. Your experiences shape and mold you into the person you are meant to become, especially when you slow down and listen to your heart and hear the voice of God. I will also pray that you will see God’s wonderful ways through getting to know others at Laity Lodge and that your new friends (both full-time and part-time) will share experiences with you that you will always treasure.
 
Your mother and I are looking forward to the next six years with you Lucy. You are truly a wonderful daughter and I hope you know that we are always here for you.
 
As I close this letter let me offer some Bible verses for you to ponder in your quiet place. First from 1st Peter 3: 3-4. This reminds me of why I think you are so special. You might want to read this one aloud to yourself and really let the meaning fill your soul.

“Your beauty . . . should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

Remember, quietness is a profoundly creative element. When we have noise around us all of the time and when we live life in too hectic and frantic of a manner, we end up confused. We end up with noise on the inside and we lose our bearings and our confidence. Then we lose our strength. Remember, Jesus said, “I will make you strong if you quietly trust me.”
 
May God bless you always and thanks for being my daughter,
 
Dad

Graduation dinner with Sally's nine girl house and parents

Sally's special friend Drew with Lu and Drew's little sister - future Chi O's?

Proud daddy!

Another special friend Shelby with Lucy

"A smooth sea . . .

. . . never makes a skillful sailor." - quoted by Sally at Emily's high school graduation lunch.

We are so happy that things are going well for Emily in her first days of college. She is very busy, but she sounds energized and excited. Remember, there will be bumps in the road ahead, but stay true to yourself and accept the challenges as they come as opportunities to learn and grow.

I am off to Los Angeles for a two day media conference and making a presentation on Smoke 2013 on Friday afternoon. Lucy at the orthopedic doc this morning to check on why her knee keeps hurting. Stay tuned . . .

SCAD golf update

Sally,

Emily got two nice notes this week about SCAD golf and shared with us. I wanted to share them with you and your grandparents.

One is an email from next year's team captain (Andrea Perez) and the other is a letter from her coach. Andrea is from Ecuador and her family owns the most successful furniture and interiors business in Ecuador. Wouldn't that be a cool place to go for your next internship? 

Coach Workman is super excited about her returning group of players and her freshmen coming to the team! I will have to send the letter form Coach via email.

Hey everyone!!!

How is it going? I hope everything is fine and that wherever everyone is you are having a great summer so far. I am having an awesome time so far, I have been in Miami for a few days and today I am going to Ecuador finally going home! I have been working out and practicing, but to be honest I did take a break from all the golf we had been playing just so my mind and body could rest for a little. I am going to play a couple tournaments during the summer, nothing big but just to keep myself with game and competition.

Anyways this email is just to say hello and also to WELCOME our new teammates!! As a new Captain me and our Co-Captain Becky are super excited for this year to get started. Congratulations Emily, Allie and Sofia on graduation!! Now let the fun start! For you three girls, if you have any questions regarding anything, absolutely anything don't hesitate to ask me, Becky or anyone on the team, we are here for you girls if you need anything. I know sometimes it can be a little intimidating to ask Coach so just email me or facebook message me. (I have added everyone now to my facebook) :)

So for everyone just letting you know as our past Captain Nikki, I am going to ask the same from everyone, to try and answer emails as soon as possible. In this case something as simple as this email I am not concerned on you answering quickly but if in the next weeks and months I ask you girls on opinions or I have to make a decision or something, I would expect for everyone to answer within a couple of days.

For the next months I am going to advice everyone to workout at least 3 times a week. If there is a week where you are with your family in a nice beach or somewhere where you cant access a gym, go for a run outside and do some sit ups and push ups. As Coach Carter says "make your adjustment". And for our new teammates, you obviously know the importance of fitness on our team (after meeting our Coach), so try to keep up with your workouts or if you haven't ever worked out just ask me on how you can get a good start. We aren't going to expect from you to be an iron woman or anything but its nice to already come prepared so you can kick our butts at workouts ;)

Ok last but not least, of courseeeee keep practicing especially short game :)!! You all know that so Im not going to go in detail.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing and refreshing summer!! Please let me know how things are going, tournaments you are playing, and anything else you want to tell me. Honestly feel free to tell me anything ( as some of you know I am a good secret keeper ) :)

Love from your new Captain (so cool to say that hehe)

Andrea

Emily in disguise

Here's a fun picture of Emily headed to one of her many graduation parties. I understand it was quite a good time. Proud of Sally for jumping at the opportunity to work for our friend's business: High Tech Flooring and Design. She had her second day of work today and will continue until she goes to New York at the end of the month. This is giving her good experience, learning about flooring materials.

Here's an interesting article about internships that Ricky sent. It seems to me that if you love a certain field of work enough, you will be happy to just be around and on the inside. Once you get inside the door, it is up to you to find ways to create value.

Hey Pop. Starting next week, Nuggets will be dedicated to you throughout the summer months. Hang in there buddy. I love you!

Go Braves.

Stay Whole

Stephen Covey's whole person paradigm

My guiding five, by which I strive:

• Everybody has his or her own path. (MAY 3, 2014)
• Life should be good, fun and easy. (MAY 5, 2014)
• This too shall pass. (May 26, 2014)
• Wear a smile, be a friend. (May 27, 2014)
• Stay whole. 

Hey Sally and other daughters who read my Nuggets now or perhaps one day. It is time for my 5th and final of my guiding five - my way of celebrating your graduation from college and hopefully showing you how proud I am of you. 

About ten years ago I read a book by Dr. Jim Loehr called The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. I became of a fan of Dr. Loehr's work on energy management after meeting him in Florida on a tennis trip with some buddies from Nashville. 

Dr. Loehr - third from right / tennis nut dad second from left

Dr. Loehr is a Sports Psychologist who made his mark working with top ranked tennis players. One of the first books I remember reading by Dr. Loehr was called The Mental Game. In this book, I remember one of Loehr's students was the great Ivan Lindl, former world number one and winner of eight Grand Slam singles titles. 

Loehr discovered what separated the greatest players, such as Ivan Lendl, from the less successful players wasn't how they played tennis points. Rather, it was how they behaved between playing points. The greatest players developed rituals to help calm and relax themselves in the short time between points. This calming and relaxing state would help Lindl restore his energy, so he was mentally and physically ready for the next point. Over the course of a long five set match, Lendl always had more energy and focus in the fifth set then his competitor.

Several years later, I became a fan of Stephen Covey's book, The 8th Habit. Covey references Loehr's work quite a bit in his book. The 8th Habit, just as Loehr's The Power of Full Engagement, teaches the importance of learning to oscillate in and out of the four different capacities: mind, heart, body, and spirit (mental, social, physical, and spiritual). We have talked about this many times and I am proud of how you seem to understand how important this is. When you balance your life in these four capacities, you can become a 'whole' person, and you can find what Covey calls your 'voice' - your unique, personal significant self.

Pretty cool. Stay whole!

Happy Birthday Emily: Here's your 2'fer

Kyle:

Emily, I had an epiphany at the beginning of April when you were in London. It was a lonely time without you and Kevin around, but I also found myself in a weird place where I was unmotivated all week. Of all the things you do for me, the biggest thing you do is motivate me, and I love that about you. Every day I get up and go to work, I always have you in the back of my mind, and it's the greatest motivation I could have. I am so proud of where you are in your career now; watching you kill it every day at Yeti has just been awesome. 

I love you for being the perfect match. You are the only person in the world that can handle everything of me that is both good and bad, but I honestly don't think there is a single other person that even stood a chance. You know exactly when to let me rant or tell me to shut up. You know when I need space and when I need you. Thank you for an amazing 5 years; that was just the warm-up; get ready for the next 50+ years.

Cathy:

Emily makes me laugh. She brings so much joy to all of our lives. I love for her to tell me crazy stories. It makes my day, all the way in London. 

Emily is so hardworking, considerate, and inclusive. I am glad that she has found a great job at Yeti, surrounded herself with good friends, is always helpful and kind to our family, is a wonderful mom to Kevin, and is a great girlfriend to Kyle. I love you so much and miss you when I’m gone.

gPa:

Emily is one of my favorite daughters. She makes me laugh. She keeps up with me and stays in touch. She is always willing to help. She is the consummate 'doer' - no task too small or too big.

Emily is crushing her career! Who would not want to work with or for Emily? She is going places in the business world, and it is going to be fun to watch it happen. I love you, Emily!

Lucy:

I love how Meme is my best friend! I love that we get to do life together in Texas (even though we miss our British family). I don’t know what I would do without her down the road, and I’m so excited to be in the same state even after graduation! 

Em is my go-to for everything, and I am so thankful! I love talking food, working out, clothes, getting our ears pierced ;), and trying all new things together. I look up to you so much and hope I can be half the amazing person you are as I grow into my post-grad life!

Sally:

I love Emily so much. She always makes me smile and laugh and has the same effect on anyone she surrounds herself with. She has a way that puts everyone at ease and makes you feel like you can just be yourself. She is so down-to-earth and humble and FUN. I can never spend enough time with Emily; she is the best sister to Lucy and me. I am sad we live so far apart, but I am manifesting that one day we will live in a beautiful neighborhood sister compound, all three of us, and I can't WAIT.

I love how Emily and I are very aligned on our approach to life and whenever I need advice on the smallest or largest things - Emily is always an amazing sounding board. I love having someone so close to me that I share the same passions (interior design, fashion, Kevin, etc.) I know as life progresses, we will always have each other to navigate marriage, raising kids, adopting dogs, decorating houses, what to wear, everything! We are so lucky.

Taylor:

Emily is a great sister to me. I've really gotten to know her more while she's been in London for the holiday and for Sal's birthday. I respect how she stepped up and hosted Betty while Sal was sick and appreciate that she can handle so many different (big) personality types so well. It is a true talent. 

I loved our pub crawl in London together. The Cross Keys and the Chelsea Pig now have some really good memories for me. Emily livens things up and is always down to have "One for the Road." 

Trey:

I love how fun and outgoing Emily is! She is definitely the life of the party and is always encouraging everyone to have fun as well. She has such a great attitude, and I am always more joyful when around her! I love that she and Kyle are in Austin, so I can see them more frequently throughout the year! 

I love that Emily is so hospitable! She is always such a good host when I am at their home in Austin! I am always so well fed when with her and Kyle! It is always a treat to be with them.

Cathy's Remarks and Prayer

At Baccalaureate - Mom and Daughter

Cathy's loving words to Emily before Sunday's luncheon:

"Thank you so much for being with us today to celebrate Emily's graduation. I want to make a few opening remarks and then read a blessing I prepared. After the blessing, please get a plate from the bar and go through the buffet line. You will find your names on a place setting on the tables out side.

I want to thank my sister Susan and her partner Dana for preparing this wonderful meal. We are having cedar plank salmon and dill sauce, tarragon chicken, roasted asparagus, cheddar and chive drop biscuits.

Emily, this is a luncheon I wanted to have for you to show you how much I love you and how proud I am of you. Each of the women here today are very special and I am honored that they would join us for this occasion. We have special family members here, like Aunt Dot, Kim, Kathy, Stacy, Kristin, Ashley, Susan and Dana. Emily, you are a product of two large and wonderful families and I hope you will always remember how family is so important in all that you do.

We have special neighbors here like Mary and Janet. We have your dear friends Meg and her mom Mary. We have GiGi, who gave us Sam, who has been such a delight to have around this year. He is such a wonderful young man. We have Ann Slack, Patty and McCalah Steinwedell, Cheryl Savage and Pam Browning . . . all remarkable women and dear friends.

Emily, one thing all of these women have in common is that they are strong and smart women. They are dear to me and I hope you will grow up to have many of the same wonderful characteristics that these ladies have. You are certainly well on your way. Emily, there are so many things that I admire about you and so many ways that I am proud of you. I want to thank you for being such a wonderful daughter, sister, and friend. I have complete confidence and faith that your life after high school is going to be amazing and fulfilling. I want to especially thank you for living your life in a very age-appropriate manner. You have never tried to get ahead of yourself and you have always been comfortable in your skin, whether on the soccer field, the golf course, at a party with friends, with your boyfriend, or in your room making a dress.

Before I say the blessing, I want to also say how proud I am of your sisters. Sally, thank you for setting such a good example for Emily as the older sister and Lucy, thank you for helping us keep everything in perspective by being such a fun-loving and happy middle-schooler. I can't imagine what our life would be like without each of you.

Let us pray . . .

Dear God,

Thank you for this special day and meal to gather as family and friends and celebrate Emily. Thank you for the joy of parenting Emily. Thank you for the good times we have shared along the way. Thank you for the challenging times and the lessons that we have learned. Bless this meal and the hands that prepared it. Bless the Class of 2012 and especially our children in that class: Emily, Meg, Trey, Rob, Kristen and Stacy.

In Christ name we pray,

Amen"

This too shall pass

Hey Sally. I've been a little slow getting back to my graduation series, and I know you have been wondering where I have been? (Smiley face.)

As a reminder, I set out to write to you about some topics I feel I know something about and some of which I am less knowledgeable, but are important none-the-less. I want this series of Nuggets to encourage you to think about these things. 

I think they are important topics to have a certain sense of awareness about as you enter into the next phase of life. I hope you will consider these short essays a gift to you and I hope Emily and Lucy might also read and think about these things, as they continue to grow. Ultimately you will want to create your own way of walking in the world, and it does not have to be the same way that I walk.

There are five over-riding themes in these short essays. As I have gotten older, I have decided that these five things should guide me in all that I do. Here they are, my guiding five, by which I strive:

• Everybody has his or her own path. (MAY 3, 2014)
• Life should be good, fun and easy. (MAY 5, 2014)
• This too shall pass. (TODAY'S TOPIC)
• Wear a smile, be a friend.
• Stay whole.

Remember, these are my five things, and they don’t have to be yours (note #1 - everybody has his or her own path.) I am repeating myself, but it is important to me that you know that this is a gift intended to get you thinking about life, about life-transitions, about dreams and opportunities. It is not meant to be preachy or exact in nature. It is far more important that you form your own way of approaching life, then to try and emulate my way or anyone else for that matter.

After touching on each of my guiding five, I hope to write about ten other topics, broken into two groups of five. The first group represents topics that I feel I have some level of understanding or self mastery. The second group represents areas or subjects in which I hope to learn more about - opportunities for growth. Remember the two questions we learned as a family years ago?  

First ask, what did I do well? Then ask, what could I have done better? 

You might think of these two sets of topics as my attempt to answer those two questions.

First five: Some sense of mastery or understanding (What did I do well?)

• On love, marriage, and family
• On exercise and health
• On happiness, contentment, change, and loss
• On spirituality, religion, prayer, and meditation
• On adventure, spontaneity, and intuition

Second five: Opportunities to learn and grow (What could I have done better?)

• On money, stuff, and things
• On fear and anxiety
• On addiction and rituals
• On business and partnerships
• On music, art, and dance

So that is a nice review of the series, but what about today's topic, 'This too shall pass.' As noted in a previous post, I first remember hearing this phrase from Aunt Dianne, and second from your mom. Of course, it is also often believed to be a Bible Verse, though in doing a little research I see that it is not actually a phrase found in the Bible. Here is short essay that I encourage you to read. It points to a number of verses in the Bible that can help you navigate through choppy waters.

I also really like the image that I posted at the top. It is a good reminder that we all have ups and downs throughout our lives. Some of our challenges (down times) will be our own doing, and some will be caused by others or simply out of our control. The same can be said of the good times. But what we can control is our attitude and our belief in ourselves and in a higher power!

In closing, I want to encourage you to read as much as you possibly can about this topic. Study the lives of successful people and you will see that often times they were successful not because they knew how to do everything right, but rather because they learned from their mistakes and they always got back up, when something in life knocked them down. A book that I remember reading when I was about your age, was Dr. Robert Schuller's Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do! I think you might like it. Send me your new address and I will have a copy delivered as a house warming gift.

Next - Wear a smile, be a friend!