GROWING UP AND MOVING ON

Ashlyn Senior Year 2013-2014

Ashlyn had her 18th birthday in December. I must say she has always been a beautiful child, and has now become a beautiful young woman, as you can see in her photograph. She sent me a delightful email last month filling me in on her activities. She plays guard on her basketball team, and they played a district game in El Paso right after she wrote me. (I forgot to ask how the game turned out.) Ever the enthusiastic athlete, she will be doing all kinds of running events in track when the spring season begins. She said she would let me know which events as soon as she knows.

Ashlyn seemed very excited about being accepted to attend Oklahoma State University in the fall. She said the Advanced Placement courses she is taking are extremely difficult. I guess now she feels that all that hard work is paying off. She will major in biology, and her mother told me that Ashlyn had indicated to her that she would like to become a Physician's Assistant like her mom was before she decided to stay home and be a full-time mother. Ashlyn still plays the violin, and the school orchestra will be going to contest in the spring. Her older sister Audrey played violin in this same orchestra, as does brother Tanner, who plays the cello. (Mom plays violin in the Amarillo College Chamber Orchestra.)

I must share what Ashlyn wrote about the newest pet in their family:

"I'm not sure if my mom told you, but we have a new pet in the family, and his name is Chips. He is a gerbil I bought because I turned 18, and I felt that was my way of rebelling. Yes, instead of getting tattoos and all kinds of strange piercings, I chose to buy a pet gerbil as strange as that is. He's super cute."

I asked her if her mother had told her that she had a pet gerbil when she was a young child. Its name was Judy. Carajean loved that little gerbil, but didn't like to clean its cage. One day she decided to speed up the process by using the vacuum cleaner to suction the litter in the bottom of its cage. This was an old vacuum cleaner -- an Electrolux tank type with a long hose. She put the hose in the cage, turned on the vacuum, and -- you guessed it! Judy was quickly vacuumed up. Carrie immediately turned it off and began to scream for me. Big brother Craig and I ran to see what was wrong this time. (Carrie had been bitten by a squirrel not long before this, thinking she could make a pet of it. A rodent is a rodent, after all.) When we heard through her sobs what had happened. I immediately took the hose off and looked into the vacuum bag. No Judy! I looked into the hose,

holding it up to the light. I could see that Judy was about halfway along the hose. Nothing we could do would coax her to come out. I was afraid she might be dead. After a few minutes, I said there was only one thing to do -- turn the vacuum back on and suction her into the bag. Carajean was sobbing hysterically by now. After I did this, I ordered Craig to carry the bag downstairs to the outdoor garbage can and dump the contents, while I tried to comfort Carrie. A short time later, Craig was yelling from the back yard for me to "come quick". We ran downstairs and I looked into the can - which had been empty. There, amid all the dirt and lint from the vacuum bag was a dusty little gerbil running around frantically trying to get out! Judy lived a few more years, even making a couple of long trips with us when we moved to Albuquerque.

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Hannah as Beth/Dorothy in "OZ"

Another budding beauty in our family, Hannah is also bright and multi-talented. An 8th grader in a North Dallas middle school, she excels in everything she attempts. She is a straight A student, taking multiple pre-advanced placement courses. One in which, U.S. History, she made 100. She also made 100 in Theater Arts. Hannah sings in the choir, under the same choir director as her brother Cameron did when he attended. She sings soprano, and was again chosen to be in the Dallas All-City Choir.

A couple of weeks ago, Cameron returned to sing with the choir, much to Hannah's delight. Hannah plans to audition for the Booker T. Washington Performing Arts High School, that Cameron  also attended. He said that she could be accepted in either talent -- theater or voice. Big brother loves to brag on how talented his little sister is! For Christmas I received a delightful DVD of her performance as Beth/Dorothy in a one-act production of a funny take-off on "The Wizard of Oz". She was wonderful.

After graduating from LSU where he studied voice, Cameron is now working to help pay off some student loans, save for another trip to Europe, and eventually go to graduate school. In the meantime, he is teaching Sunday School, and keeping his voice from getting rusty by singing with a group called The Uptown Carolers. They recently performed "One More Day" from Les Miserables in a wedding flash mob performance. Cameron is the tall long-haired blond in the grey suit, who sings bass. One More Day. It was a delightful surprise from the bride's parents.

Hannah and Cameron were gifted with their dad's intelligence and talent. Craig was also a straight A student, even though he was moved from school to school many times growing up. When he first decided he wanted to play guitar, I eagerly sought out the best music teacher in Albuquerque. At his suggestion, I rented Craig's first guitar and signed him up for lessons as a Christmas present when he was 11 years old. I was surprised when he came home unhappy after his first lesson. This teacher wanted him to learn music, and was going to teach him classical guitar. The Beatles were popular with his age group as well as the rest of America (he even had a "Beatles" haircut), and classical guitar was the last thing he wanted to learn. Later, in college, he turned to classical. He learned music! We all loved to hear Craig play anything at our family gatherings and especially the 4th of July celebrations. No classical guitar there... I later swelled with pride when he played the beautiful love song "Evergreen" at his sister's wedding. He and Cameron have since entertained us with many a guitar duet.

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Enough bragging on family for this time. I, of course, have much more to share about the others, and some of my observations about the advantages these children have had that contribute to their successes. I am dismayed when the State of Texas cuts funding for education. The under-privileged children who live in poorer districts are the ones who suffer most. My grandchildren are blessed with good school districts and programs that many aren't.

Peace, love, and music for your souls,

Marilyn