The end of a journey

When you're growing up, there comes a time when you have to choose what extracurricular activity you really want to pursue. When you're younger you can do gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, and karate all at one time...but, when you start to get older you are forced to choose your favorite out of all your 'activities'.

For my sister and I it was volleyball. She started playing in 5th grade and ever since I saw her play I followed in her footsteps...literally. We practiced together, I went to practically every game...that was our thing. We were always doing stuff for volleyball. Missing class, missing proms, missing movie nights with our friends for this thing that became our life. Everything revolved around volleyball... summer plans, school nights, basically every single day. Taking time to make sure we got our mile down in 8 minutes, making sure we got the newest Mizuno shoes, knowing that we were going to be one of the starters, paying for private lessons, driving countless miles to the Anaheim Sports Center, and listening to hours upon hours of volleyball drama and gossip. 

Volleyball....

It's such an amazing thing. It's brought us so much joy and so much heartache. From the moment Kelly took interest in it at 10 years old, shes never turned back. Literally, thousands of hours put into this one sport. From the time she was playing at Stockdale Christian School in the gym dyed with blue and gold, to the last ball she hit at the Reliance Arena in Houston, Texas, this has truely been one of her lifes biggest journeys. 

As much as this one chapter has ended, another has just begun. A chapter into her new life as an almost college graduate and a young working woman. I am so happy that she had the chance to find her one of her passions in life and was able to pursue it for 12 exciting years. Although I was not there in person to see her last game winning kill, I was there in spirit cheering her on as I would do when I was younger. I never thought there would be a day when her competitive volleyball career would end, but like everything we start, there is always an end. For Kelly, the ending could not have been more perfect. From the first time she touched a volleyball, her journey was destined to end in that moment when the lights were bright and the crowd filled with excitment. I am so overjoyed that Kelly was blessed to have been a part of such an amazing story. 

From one chapter to the next, I am thankful to have been there from the beginning Kel. I love you and I'll always be there.