Tribute to a Graduate

The Keep Writing Challenge for today is to write a 300-word (exactly) story based on the prompt "excellence."

Tribute to a Graduate

My baby girl stood before me in a flowing blue graduation robe and mortarboard, bopping gently to make the tassel swing.

“What?  Why are you staring at me like that? Are you disappointed that I didn’t quality to wear a high honors sash?”

“Oh, Baby, absolutely not! There is no way I could be prouder, and you look amazing!”  I stood there trying to capture words to explain where my mind had flown, and my daughter rushed back into the kitchen to model for her Dad.

Unsettled by the aborted conversation, knowing I’d let a golden opportunity escape, I sat at my computer and began to tell my daughter what was in my mind when she thought she saw disappointment on my face.

My darling Arden,

You asked why I had no words for you as you modeled your graduation robe? This. A slide show of your life (past, present, and future) was playing in my head. My mother always said that you never lose all the ages you have been, and I was assembling all of YOU into one cohesive image.

You are a baby - bubbly, responsive, eager to learn and master new skills.

You are a toddler - inquisitive, usually successful on first tries but willing to learn from failures and try again.

You are a child - unbroken when faced with setbacks, knowing her own intelligence and importance while acknowledging the strengths of others as well.

You are a teen who knows who she is and what she believes in, who utilizes her strengths, who dares to dream.

You are a young woman blazing trails and setting examples, responsible, in charge of her own life and future.

I saw, standing before me today, a young woman of elegance and excellence, ready to take on the world.