GRATITUDE DAY 6

Bemmer-Bo!

What gratitude I have in my heart for my daughter Emily.

She has been such a sweet and kind daughter to me. 

Emily works hard in school.  Her schedule has been really difficult.  Between her AP classes and band, as well as a Seminary (scripture study) class before school, it's rare for her to get more than 4-6 hours of sleep each night.  She has always been one who requires the full 8 hours.  If she doesn't get enough rest, she becomes sick and lethargic (and a little emotional).  Nathan could exist easily on 4 hours a night but Emily has never been able to do that.  I have watched her this year, trying to keep up with everything, trying to do well in school and in band and still give to her church assignments, etc.  There have been many evenings where she has come home, started her homework, fallen asleep while doing her homework and then at some point wake up only to realize it is very late and she hasn't finished everything, so she begins again.  But she never complains.  Her body crashes whenever possible in order to catch up on her sleep but no matter how tired she is she never becomes agitated.

I have very much enjoyed watching Emily perform on the field.  At only 4'10" (when she stands tall) she is easy to spot!  Our weekends have been band-filled... Friday night football and Saturday competitions, every week!  We run back and forth from competition to our world with the other kids closer to home and then competition again in the evening since they have always made finals.    At one competition a very tall (freshman) girl wasn't on her mark while marching and she backed up over Em.  (Really!)  Even though Emily put her hand on her back, the girl kept coming.  She was young and inexperienced on the field.  She stepped on Em and mowed her over!  Emily went down, did a backward roll and ended standing straight up and was on her mark right on time.  It was really something!  She never missed a beat!  We love to watch the replay of that and laugh!  Good thing she is a former gymnast!

Em has been playing the french horn since 6th grade and I believe she really loves it.  The french horn is so beautiful, I love to hear it played.  Did you know that if you were to unroll it  and lay it out it would be 12 feet long?!  (4 meters!)  It still cracks me up that our little girl ended up playing that large and heavy instrument.  (So glad it wasn't the tuba!)

She has shown great patience as well.  She has been ready to get her license for quite some time.  We (parents) asked her to hold off until summer.  She knew the schedules were crazy, Nathan needed the vehicle, etc.  She didn't complain.  Summer came and I was needed elsewhere.  By the time it was possible for her to go and get it, she was fully committed to marching band, 8 AM - 8 PM daily.  Nathan was also here this Fall and needed the use of the car, so she has been patiently waiting.  Now, she can finally go to the DMV but doesn't have a day.  I asked her the other day if she could find a couple of hours out of one of her days where she could miss school in order to go and get her license...prefacing that with, "You don't want to wait until the week of Thanksgiving do you?" 

She asked, "Is there a day off of school before that?"

Hmm, don't think so...

Now, if my mom had asked me if I could find a few hours during a school day to go and get my license, I would have asked, "Can I take the week off and go on a road trip right after I get it?"  (Ha, ha!)

She is fully dedicated to everything she does.  She strives for excellence in many areas of her life, bedroom excluded. (When it's clean, it is shiny, very organized and amazing!  When it's not, it's a disaster!)

There were many difficulties and sacrifices made to get Emily into the world, I am so grateful that we were blessed to have her!  She has greatly enriched our lives and is a tremendous blessing to our family.

I am so grateful to have such a lovely daughter.

***

Photos from UIL Area B, Class AAAA Competition (morning):

During the portion of the show where the queen (chess game) is killed by the king, Em is on the right, 2nd one back on the 45 yd line.

Emily is right behind the guard.

 

 

Comments

[Jonathan]

Day 6:

I'm going to echo Marilyn and express my gratitude for Emily. Emily puts up with her Dad! I am so grateful for that. She is a joy and an inspiration to me. At a very young age she learned to self-manage (in fact she may have come that way). So now she is working on managing the rest of us!

One of my favorite Emily story is about her hot feet. When she was a baby, Marilyn would bundle her up to go out in the frigid Vermont weather (40 below). She would layer her in clothes. As they would be driving down the road, Emily would start to fuss. It didn't take long for Marilyn to figure out that Emily was too hot (This is something that Marilyn may never understand because she has never been too hot). Well, Marilyn would roll down the window when Emily would start to fuss, and that seemed to do the trick. One day even with the window rolled down, Emily still was fussing. Finally the fussing stopped, and Marilyn discovered that Emily's shoes were gone - out the window - so the cool breeze could now drift over her hot toes. Emily was in heaven.

[Kim]

Emily you are a sweetheart. I have watched you grow (through this blog) and everything I read about you is so positive and uplifting. You are a special Daughter of God.

[Dear]

To Emily:

You are a very precious grandaughter, and a special young woman. I am so proud of you, not only your accoomplishments (which are many), but for who you are and who you are becoming. I love you very much.