All My Love, Gennavieve

At the age of five, my family decided to move from the Sunny State of CA to the middle of nowhere Dawson, Nebraska. My father dreamed of living in a small town. He pictured a story-like town with faces everyone knew and a strong community. So, he packed up the family, and we settled into a population of a whopping 168! We moved into a two-story fixer-upper and my Mom quickly began her magical touch of making the house become a home. There were many differences between our life in CA and our new lives in NE. First and foremost, the people. In CA, our neighbors were cordial. Waving, "hello" as we passed by and asking the respectful, but not intrusive, "How are you?" In NE, our neighbors invited themselves to our home. I will never forget the day my mother opened the door to a man named, Bill Stivicks. Dressed in overalls and work boots, Bill walked right into our living room, introduced himself, and plunked himself down on our sofa. My mother, alarmed and

Spring is alive and in full bloom in East Texas. The green pastures are filled with wildflowers. Bursts of yellow, flecks of peach, and the Bluebonnet State flower blanket the fields. This week, I was not the only one who beheld the beauty of camp. I led a group of middle school students in a leadership program at Camp. During the week, we emphasize the importance of people, passion, vision, and leaving a legacy. Coupled with team-building activities, horse rides, and zip-lines, the students have an opportunity to learn while playing. It's learning in disguise. On their final day, we shared a closing discussion on what they learned and how they can implement their discoveries at school and in the future. The first few students responded with answers I expected: listening to others, working as a team, etc. Then, one student surprised me. She explained how grateful she was for the space to think. She said, "I've never really thought about what I am passionate abo