Saturday night was Savannah's graduation/going away party. I have been to several graduation parties within the past month, but this one was special because of Savannah’s diverse group of friends. She had her volleyball girls, her senior class gang, her 20-something year old friends, and her many college acquaintances. Savannah is playing volleyball on a full-ride scholarship to SMU next fall. We have grown up together- from having combination birthday parties in limos to being baseball managers in the dugout! We have the exact same birthday. In significant, yet interesting… she is exactly two hours older than me. I played volleyball with her for several years and it has been amazing being able to watch her athletic talent blossom. Savannah is a sweet girl with a huge heart and I am thankful she has been a part of my life. Her going away party was a ton of fun! Everyone was hanging out, eating lots of food, and socializing with different groups of people. I met several new faces on Saturday night and had plenty of heart to heart conversations. For several hours a huge group of high school girls were gathered around me asking for advice and listening to my many life stories. They kept calling me Oprah and told me I should pursue a career as a talk show host. The girls made me laugh. I love love love to talk and share my experiences. I hope that they avoid making the same mistakes as I once did in high school and the years to come. They stuck around for several hours, so I hope they took some things I said to heart. Not your typical sum-up of a graduation party, but I wouldn’t trade our conversations for the world. Everyone comes to a point in their life, or several points, when they are ready to move on. I’ve found I find strength in my moments of weakness, and sharing my life lessons thus far with these girls only made me stronger. It reminded me of the person that I’ve always been and the person that I still hope to be. I am movin’ on.
