Time flew so fast, just like that, our first born is seventeen! It's still very vivid in mind when we first dropped her off to school to start kindergarten. She was very excited to learn in a "big kid" school to continue what we have been learning at home on her pre-school days. I am a stay at home mom and I never left our kids to daycare except one night when hubby was still in the military and we had to attend a navy ball. We didn't have a choice not to leave them in the day care because we were in South Korea and we didn't have family there to look after them. Fast forward to many years, she is now in her Senior years, wow.
In previous years, we always timed our vacation on her birthdays but in the last couple of years, we didn't get to do that because of the pandemic. I am so glad that this year, we were able to. We spent her 17th birthday in South Dakota. We did visit several tourist spots on her birthday week. We did horse back riding in Custer, we explored one of the deepest cavern in Black Hills, went to Mt. Rushmore, visited the Badlands, went to see the Devil's Tower, and did and a lot more fun things while we were there.
It's kind of bitter sweet that her high school life is almost over. I feel like she didn't get to do or experience much that a normal teen would. She is always a silent type, very timid and keep to herself type kind of gal. She only have a few close friends that she interacts with. I feel bad that she got my introvert genes who feel stress out being in the crowd or going out in public. One thing that I am very proud of her though is that, she is a very goal oriented person. When she put her mind into something, she make sure to do well at it.
I was told that senior year will go very fast and it makes me sad to think that she will heading out to college or pursue whatever she wants to do with her career. She plans to get into the naval academy. She's bummed out that she didn't get to attend the navy summer camp because of the covid vaccine mandate. She wasn't vaccinated then, we thought that the navy will not require but lo and behold, it is mandatory which sucks big time. Now she has to be vaccinated if she wants to get accepted into the academy. We wanted to protect her from any kind of side effects since the vaccines were not properly tested then but it kind of hinder her path so we don't have a choice but to let her vaccinated now. It sets her back a couple of steps but at least we are sure now that the vaccine is safe. I still pray that this won't have an effect on her health in the future. Whatever it is that she would pursue though, we will be behind her and support her 100%.
As you advance through more serious things in life, I pray that God will continue to watch over you and guide you in navigating the rollercoaster ride of life. Remember always that no matter what, we will be here to support you and love you. We are so grateful for a young woman you are becoming. You make us proud in everything that you do. Thank you for setting a really good example to your little brother.
Love,
Mom
P.S.
Pardon your Mom for this very late post but happy birthday again sweetheart!
