Just Dorothy: October 2013

Friday was a busy day for me. It was a great day and a sad day at the same time.

First, I met a wonderful young lady that had come to our school as a guest speaker. She used to live in our community and I think her mom still does. But a few years ago, she and her dad moved to Hawaii so she could pursue her passion for surfing. She ended up getting sponsored by Roxy and is one of their models but is also the 2nd ranked female surfer in the U.S.

She talked to our Junior High students about setting goals, pursuing interests, staying healthy, having good character. She talked about social media and how she makes sure everything she posts on any kind of media is positive, never negative, never uses foul language, etc. It was very motivational. I'm hoping some of our students were inspired to pursue their dreams, knowing that someone not much older than them made theirs come true.

And I watched Ryan's last "dance" of his senior year. It was homecoming Friday and at their pep rally the senior football boys did a skit. But the skit involved a dance. So funny, so bittersweet. I got a little teary eyed even. That night at the homecoming game it was a shut-out. The boys won 63-0.

You would think it would be a great feeling to not let the other team score at all and your own team scored really high for football. But it's not. It's not fun to play a game that is so one sided and it's not fun to watch a game like that, either. It's really affected Ryan this weekend and he's dwelling on it. He's a great kid with compassion and empathy and a sense of fairness.

Of course, football is football and there is a game to play and win. Ryan was impressed with the determination of the players, how they kept trying and came out of half time pumped and ready to go even though the score was 49-0.

In today's society when it's expected for a teenager to be a complete jerk, it's nice to know that my kid is not one of those. He felt for the other team. Someone told me that is a sign of greatness.