worm before the butterfly

Yesterday I was thinking. About myself.

Haha. self centered much?

But seriously.

I was thinking about who I am.

What does that even mean?

I was asking, how did I get where I am right now?

When I was a child,

who told me that I was courageous enough?

Because I had to be, coming on this journey.

who taught me that I am a daughter of God?

Because I know that with all of my heart.

who secured the belief in me that my family loves me?

Because I know that they do.

who taught me to never stop exploring?

who taught me to love my neighbor?

who told me that I was enough?

Dear mom&dad,

Mrs. Hamasaki,

Sharon H,

Ms. Banker,

Kristin H,

Nikki S,

Mr. Jones,

Sarah P,

Mr. Herzog,

Bishop Merrill,

Gma+Gpa Hargadon/Madsen

Steve C,

Linda F,

Diana T,

Anna, David & Caroline

+ all my friends(maaaajor kooks. haha),

teachers and mentors,

and most of all, my Heavenly Father

...Thank You.

It was you that prepared me for this journey. In every way that I needed.

Every day that I am here, and every day for the rest of my life,

I hope to make YOU proud.

And someday I hope to instill the same

courage, faith, boldness, love, hope, joy, worth and strength

that you gave to me, in my own children.

Love,

Kate/Katiebaby/Katiebird

Ps, if you have not read Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, go buy it NOW and read it in the parking lot. Don't let the fact that you will probably find it in the children's section deter you from your mission of purchase.

Here is one of my favorite quotes of the book:

“You know, there’s a place we all inhabit, but we don’t much think about it, we’re scarcely conscious of it, and it lasts for less than a minute a day….It’s in the morning, for most of us. It’s that time, those few seconds when we’re coming out of sleep but we’re not really awake yet. For those few seconds we’re something more primitive than what we are about to become. We have just slept the sleep of our most distant ancestors, and something of them and their world still clings to us. For those few moments we are unformed, uncivilized. We are not the people we know as ourselves, but creatures more in tune with a tree than a keyboard. We are untitled, unnamed, natural, suspended between was and will be, the tadpole before the frog, the worm before the butterfly. We are, for a few brief moments, anything and everything we could be. And then… and then–ah–we open our eyes and the days is before us, and–we become ourselves.”

Photo Credit: Kushal Bista

(the bum photographer who came along on our village trip in August)

Now, go hug your mom and eat some cheezits-white cheddar specifically.

(what I would do if I were home)

Love you allllllllllllllll

-Keti bainey