Looking Back

She stepped out of the car, head held high and enough confidence to last a lifetime.  Or maybe just enough to walk through the doors for her first day of high school.  Last August, after a delayed start to the school year, I sent my first born girl off to begin her high school career.  And this week, that first year comes to an end.  I've watched my girl grow, sort through friendships that were going nowhere, make new friends, learn, complain about homework, laugh, cry and make memories that I hope she never forgets.  I hope her memories are good enough to last a lifetime.  The kind you never want to forget. 
She entered her freshman year of high school, barely 14 years old.  Now in a month she will be 15 and ready to start learning to drive.  Another new adventure.  She's proven that she will work hard to get where she wants to be.  She sets high expectations for herself and is her own worst critic.  She's a perfectionist with the biggest heart ever.  She's loyal, loving and caring.  She's also outspoken.  She's having to learn to temper that outspoken spirit with tact. 
I'm proud of who she is.  She's by no means perfect.  But she has a lot of good qualities.  I hope she will always strive to be the best person she can be.  Not the best person that someone else expects her to be.  I hope she goes outside of her comfort zone sometimes.  I hope when she fails, she picks herself up and keeps going.  I hope when she succeeds, she accepts success with humility.  I hope she finds happiness, love and peace.  Most of all, I hope she strives to please her Savior.  In so doing, her life will be blessed, she will always be on the right path and she will find what He has in store for her.
August feels like a lifetime away right now.  But it will be here all too soon.  And I will watch as she enters the doors at school to begin another year of high school.  If the next 3 years goes as fast as the past year, I might just cry.  Each year as I drop both girls off for their first day of school, my mantra is "I will not cry".  I may need to find a new mantra. 

**And I have not forgotten my baby girl.  A post about her school year coming soon.  My heart can only take so much at once.