June 5, 2010

Happy Graduation Michael!

Joe, Michael and I on the annual family trip to the North Shore of Minnesota.

Eighteen days from now I will be back in Minnesota visiting my family and friends for the summer. I am unbelievably excited to see everyone and spend time re-connecting to the places and the people who I treasure most.

Unfortunately, I will arrive eighteen days too late to see my little brother graduate from high school. Today he finishes a four year high school journey. It wasn't too long ago that I was in that position and I just remember that sneaking suspicion that the entire world was about to change. You work so hard in class, in sports, in extra activities and in building the relationships with those around you. And then...the world just all shifts. You're leaving behind everything you have known - your friends, your family, your school, your city to go out and investigate a different place. The whole experience is thrilling and wonderful...and a little scary sometimes. You can't ever go back and point to that moment when it all changes, but sooner or later people grow up, they move away, they change and you're not in high school anymore.

Spiker - as you go out into the world of college you must know how incredibly proud I am to be your sister. You are an amazing man, friend, son, student, baseball player and most importantly - brother! I know you are going to do amazing things at the University of Nebraska next year and I cannot wait to hear all about it. I love you!!

All my love and congratulations to the class of 2010! Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of the rest of your lives. Good luck!

1 comment:

Papa Rad's said...

K Rad's hola. Mike and his buddies had a great graduation ceremony, very nice. So nice you could see it via the internet. One of the greatest human gifts you can give to another human is to be genuinely interested in their life, in what they are up to, and connect with them from time to time in various ways, even when you are far away. Everyone needs that, men, women and children. And we especially relish it when it comes from those we love - friends and family. Michael and Danny and Joe think the world of you and what you have already become and done in your life, they will be so excited to see you in a few short weeks. You have given Michael that special gift, even moreso these past few years while you were away at college and now Colombia - that special gift of connecting and being interested and involved in their lives. That is a gift you have been given that you nurture and make use of in all walks of your life - teaching, your friends, your family. It is the essence of life - the art of caring and loving and conversing and connecting with others on a deep level. And it basically is a centerpiece to a whole lot of great Bruce Springsteen songs that you and I love - Human Touch, Bobby Jean, Thunder Road, Born to Run, etc. We are in this world TOGETHER, it is not a solo journey, we are connected to other humans along the way. You are an awesome "big sister" to those boys.

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