Step by Step

I watched my granddaughter graduate today.  I also heard her make a speech, as a class officer.  Night before last, I got to hear her speech for baccalaureate. Did I make the trip to Georgia?  No, thanks to the miracle of modern communication, I viewed iPhone videos almost in real time.  I had hoped for Face Time, but we didn't make connections.

How could time have gone so fast since I used to baby-sit her and her brother and little sister?  How could this quiet, shy, little girl grow into a teenager who talked so softly I always had to  say, "Talk louder and  don't mumble," then become this articulate, poised young woman I saw addressing hundreds--no, thousands--of people today?

They do grow up!  When she called to thank me for her graduation gift, Corrin told me how surreal it seemed that high school was over.  She said it was bittersweet, thinking of leaving her friends, yet looking forward to the exciting unknown of college.

Coming from a family of sports enthusiasts, Corrin played softball in middle-school, then pursued and excelled at golf in high school.  She is also a swimmer, working last summer as a lifeguard, then through the winter at a senior aquatic center, to resume her lifeguard job at a pool this summer.

Since childhood, our granddaughter has tried to keep up with her big brother, unabashedly adoring and imitating him as a role model.  She even put up with his assaults, like the time he told her to turn around, then shot her with a bb gun! Unfortunately, her competitive, daring bent, while a good confidence builder, has gotten her into a few scrapes.  Nothing like the one that almost took her life when she had a serious accident with an ATV at age 15.

All through high school, Corrin has staunchly withstood the aftermath of the accident--several bone grafts and surgeries in preparation for dental work to restore her mouth. Though we feared disfigurement from facial injuries, she has grown more beautiful than ever.  As a junior, she was a homecoming maid, and as a senior, the homecoming queen.

When I expressed sympathy over her accident while she was in the hospital, her response was, "It made me a better person."  Her spiritual life has deepened, she is a responsible young lady, and she is ready for college!  But I'll always remember her as a toddler coming into our adjoining apartment in the middle of the night, cold with a wet diaper and carrying a cold bottle, climbing into our bed and sleeping in the middle!