To Galaxy at 14

31 August 2018        To Galaxy at 14

When you were small, I remember looking forward with eager anticipation to how you would gradually become your own person.  Who would you be, and who would you hope to be?  I could not have imagined then, how deep and extraordinary that journey would turn out to be. 

A few things emerged pretty early.  First, you were eager for new experiences and challenges.  The day that you realized that going to the playground was an opportunity not just to use some delightful equipment such as swings and slides, but also to meet other kids and play with them, that was a huge step.  Organized play groups and school became extensions of that experience.  That was your world, and from the first, you were very determined about how you would approach it.

You know that I love to tell the story of how one of your 3^rd St. pre-K teachers (Brenda or Cathy) mentioned that you would occasionally help other kids to master things that they were struggling with.  And when I recounted that to my father, he mused “sometimes leadership shows itself quite early.”  I treasure that story because time has born it out.  The person that you have become is both bold and kind to others.  Boldness not just in daring, but in persistence as well.  Kindness not just in being nice, but in seeing what others need, and making a difference.

Some people are best described as a tangle of contradictions.  You, I think, are not one of that number.  You seem more like a series of ‘ands’.  Your interests and enthusiasms are deep and diverse.  And yet you hold them in harmony.  This allows you to attempt some really extraordinary things.  Like committing yourself to a rigorous high school experience while seeking to break that frame by spending a year abroad.  Now, that’s what I call “pulling a Galaxy.”  Pulling a Galaxy is typically something that wouldn’t make sense for most people, because it looks like it probably wouldn’t work.  And for you, sometimes it doesn’t. But you usually learn something valuable by making the attempt, and sometimes, you manage to accomplish your self-determined goal.

So I have no original advice to offer on this day, when you are stepping forward with even greater independence.  You hear it from everyone—be daring, be diligent, be persistent, be yourself.  Of course.  Of course you will.

Love,

Dad