Tuesday

So, Last Night

Last night was spent being proud of my daughter and her BFF. It was the National Junior Honor Society ceremony. Bear even made the sacrifice (cough, cough) of missing baseball practice so he could see his loving sister receive her 2 year pin.

Part of the ceremony is to have seniors who once attended the school & were in the NJHS to give an "encouraging" speech. That's all well & good, until the 2nd speaker came to the podium. She spoke of how these kids represented hope. Hope to find the cure of cancer & AIDS, hope to end racism & terrorism, hope to end the troubles of Africa, and the hope to solve all the world's problems. That's quite a heavy burden for 12-14 yr olds! Talk about pressure.

The third speaker, the best one of the 3, made a point that I hope Lamb really paid attention to. He said that they shouldn't let their successes define them, they should define their successes. How true those words are. Saturday marks the very last drama fest in her junior high career. There a much coveted trophy will be awarded. A trophy that Lamb will be ineligible to earn & her friends most probably will earn. A trophy that Lamb desperately would like to have in her hands. Does NOT getting that trophy mean she is a horrible actress? Should she just give up & change career paths? Of course not. It means that a judge, a judge who is random, marked her lower than a different judge might have. If she got the trophy, will she be an automatic success on Broadway or Hollywood? Of course not.

Not getting the trophy does not define her success. Her hard work, dedication, & talent define her success. She defines her success. The ribbons, medals, & trophy are just bling. Nice bling. Bling that would be incredibly fantastic to own. But bling just the same.

Think of her Saturday, please. It's going to be a hard day for her. We've talked & she's fine right now. But, it's still going to be tough when it all comes down.

But last night was a good night. A night filled with smiles and happiness. It was marred for a bit when the speaker mispronounced her name. Lamb was FOR SURE that our difficult last name would be pronounced correctly. It wasn't, but it was immediately fixed without Lamb's prompting. Bear says he could see on Lamb's face that she was miffed. Ah, girlie, get used to it. After that, it was all perfection. A proud night was had by all.


Aren't They Lovely?A great way to end Junior High and head into the wilds of High School.

7 comments:

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

I am SOOOOOOO proud of our girlies! And I, too, hope Lamb takes that advice to heart. The trophy doesn't matter. The judging is all objective, and it doesn't define who she is as an actress OR as a young lady! She is beautiful and talented - they both are. They don't need a trophy to prove it (or the cure for AIDS, cancer, genocide, or terrorism!).

Stacey said...

I THOUGHT that was B/S's girl on the left! Ohhh D, I'm always amazed at how utterly fantastic your children are. You (and hubs, yeah yeah) have raised them to be individuals seeking to do just what you say, define their successes! I like that, you should put a quote on your sidebar or something.

Congratulations, Lamb, you've done gone and made your momma proud. And Bear, for I know it wasn't easy for him, skipping practice and all. xoxoxoxo

PS--you're too nice to me, D, I saw what you said to Dawn.

Jamie Dawn said...

Congrats to those beautiful girls, and best of luck to Lamb on Saturday.

Jenny86753oh9 said...

Congrats Girls!!!! That's a wonderful achievement. D, you and your husband must be completely proud as punch of your kiddos....rightly so!

Bubba's Mom said...

Aren't we blessed with those two precious girls??? And, there is so much ahead of them - who knows what they can accomplish? And, I hope they are always BFF's.

Bubba's Mom said...

Aren't we blessed with those two precious girls??? And, there is so much ahead of them - who knows what they can accomplish? And, I hope they are always BFF's.

jenny said...

And my older one is in drama as well. We have so much in common, I think I'll be checking back in on you! ;-)