But, before we get there, there are a few things left on the school year agenda. Some school work left to do, of course. Two math units and a math final exam that has Erin a little stressed out. Considering she skipped an entire month of math while we were in Memphis, she's doing incredibly well, all things considered. Erin will get through it and we have made plans with a tutor this summer to go back and re-visit the material she missed so she is ready for 7th grade come fall.
This is the last week of spring volleyball for the South Side Juniors. Sunday the season will finish up with an all day tournament here in Rochester. Erin has loved it and plans to play again in the fall. She'll work on her game this summer which of course, kills two birds with one stone: you get better at volleyball and you get to hang out with your friends!
Soccer carries on for another three weeks and takes us right up to the end of the school year. The Thunderbolts had a great game last Saturday and they are a fun group of girls. With Erin switching to volleyball come fall and then planning to play high school golf next spring, this appears to be the end of our soccer coaching career. We've been coaching and watching soccer since Shannon started in 3rd grade. So, I'm going to enjoy this last three weeks.
Dan is on a monster trip this week - Rochester to Fargo to Eau Claire. As he says, in his job the customers don't come to you, you go to the customer. His travels and contacts are starting to produce some new accounts, so that makes the nights away from home worth it.
I've continued with my writing - a little each day - but also not pushing too hard this week until I get some feedback from my editor. It's a process, and I need to be patient.
Instead, I've been spending a great deal of time working on the scholarship, writing a mission statement and creating an application. Rochester Youth Hockey is going to add the donation information to their web page, and we're going to get a chance come registration time to take donations from anyone who is signing up for youth hockey. That's 900 kids in this town!
I also communicated with all four high schools here in Rochester and they now have the scholarship application information. Dan and I will go and promote it to the high school hockey players when their seasons start next fall, and we feel like we are well on our way to giving out those first scholarships next spring. The scholarship fund went over $10,000 this week as donations continue to trickle in. Thank you.
Putting my energy into working on the scholarship feels good. Working on the book feels good. Most of the time. I do have a little crisis of confidence from time to time and wonder what the heck I am doing.
I continue to read our daily reflection and often it helps to remind me to forge ahead. I have never been a crusader and have mostly held my feelings and beliefs to myself. But, to honor the spirit of the child I lost? To do that, I can change. I can promote a scholarship in her memory and I can write a book to tell her story. I can do something with this grief.
"Out of every crisis comes the chance to be reborn, to reconceive ourselves as individuals, to choose the kind of change that will help us to grow and to fulfill ourselves more completely." - Nena O'Neill
