Sometimes I forget how blessed I truly am. I forget how truly rich my life is.
I think about everything that I have been through. Every person I have loved and every person I have lost.
I think about all of the adventures I’ve had and shared along the way.
The way I met one of my closest friends, Bo, in Venezuela-a country so beautiful and full of the most precious children its hard to really describe in words-when she was 15 and I was 17.
How my bestfriend Lauren and I slept beside homeless people in Manhattan when we were 15 after riding a train from our sleepy town in Georgia for almost 20 hours to Grand Central Station. How a moment on a fire escape late one night changed my life forever.
How lucky I am to have Lauren.
How I will never forget how lucky I am to have her.
She is my sunshine.
How I got to surf with Tom Curren in San Diego when I was 18.
How my mom and dad are two of the most amazing people I know. How my dad grew up living in whatever part of the country had NASA training centers because his dad was an engineer for the space program. How he went off on his own adventures all over the South learning how to become a chef. From Natches Mississippi to the coast of Alabama, where he met my mom.
My mom…who lights up a room with her presence. She’s crazy and colorful and everything in the world that is magic and light.
Michelle and David…their love for God pushing me to run harder and faster to him always.
I think about the beautiful children from Savannah, who are growing so fast, that I had the priviledge of living with-Elle, Chloe, and Jonah…
The way Elle and Chlo would grab my hand and lead me to the beautiful trees by the water that we would climb all day until dinner time. The way the salt water smelled and the laughter we shared. Chasing otters down the Bluff. The way those children taught me more about forgiveness and love than could ever be preached from a pulpit.
I think about my bestfriends. My soulmates. Nick, Cintia, Dylan, Russell, Kaylin…the connection that will always be there. Nicaragua. The children whose hearts changed me from the inside out. Nick and Cintia. Their support and unconditional love has been my rock these last few years.
Doc and Terri…learning to sail, watching dolphins from their dock. Endless hugs, laughter and tears. Victoria, William, and Matthew. Matthew and Bethesda and the piano…more tears, more laughter. Matthew pulling me in with grace. Matthew standing for me when I couldn’t stand. Loving me the way Jesus loves.
My friend Sarah for allowing me to be in her life. For changing mine without really knowing it.
My Liberty Grace, Billie May, and Stevie-I will always love these precious girls.
Childhood friends that will always mean everything to me-Whitney, Jenna, Logan.
Eva, Ally, Shelby…how our lives will always be intertwined because we might be the only sane people on the planet.
The only things that kept me sane in Athens amongst the damn sororities and underage boozers- flying trapeze and Ashlee.
My beautiful friends from Atlanta-the Flowerrees, the Lorentz’s, Ali, Erin, Paul, Jackson, Christine&Rich, Rachel, my roommates who were also my childhood friends, Nicole and Christen. How good Atlanta has been to me this past semester. How much I love riding the train and being on my campus. I think I’ve finally found some solid ground.
Then there’s my beautiful little sister, who’s not so little anymore. There’s no kinder, funnier person in the world. She makes life easier for me.
All of my neices, nephews, great neice and great nephew. Its like I just keep opening my arms wider and wider because God keeps pouring more blessings on me. I can’t even fit them all in my arms at once.
I am so richly blessed.
This summer, I’m looking forward to new adventures. To new heights. The Rainwater family who lives on a small farm in Northern California.
I’m a little bit awkward, I have no real talents, but I will love them. I will trust them. I will learn from them. I will never stop learning. Life is as wide as you allow it to be.
I will never stop growing. I will never stop opening my arms.
I will continue making my own destiny.
I will continue to dream big dreams and look at the sunsets, and thank the stars and my sweet, beautiful God for all of the ones that have come true.
“Reality is something you rise above.” - Liza Minnelli
