February 2015
I celebrated my eighteenth birthday recently with five of my friends. Before my party started, I was worried that we would run out of stuff to do before it ended at eight. We had no such problem! The party didn't end until like 2:15 am! Judi and Eden had to leave at the normal time, but Benny, Mikaele and Kaylee stayed into the night. And guess what we spent hours doing?
We spent literally five hours just talking. We had a brilliant, terrific discussion that was rich, enlightening and intelligent. Later Dad would say we sounded like college students. We discussed such subjects as religion, feminism, the Iraq War on Terrorism, the death penalty, pedophilia, and pretty much every other political and social issue of our time. I love this group of people. We are all so different, and definitely had differing opinions, but we were capable of having a mature, respectful, rich discussion. Mikaele is a flute-playing extremely nerdy boy who loves literature, history, medicine and the military; Kaylee is an outgoing, extremely girly female wrestler who loves democratic politics, business, sports, fashion, and performance arts; Benny is bookworm who loves Lord of the Rings and nature, and is a Christian who ironically has a fascination with evolutionary biology; and I am a shy flute-playing, ballet-loving vegan cheerleader who is dedicated to ethical food systems.
But because we are eighteen- and seventeen-year-olds, we discussed these complex topics in the way we know how to, using what we knew. We referenced Disney movies like Brave or Frozen; or books we read in class throughout high school, like The Kite Runner, Things They Carried, and Crime and Punishment. This is because this is how we understand the world; this is our starting point.
It was one of those moments when I realize that these people sitting in front of me, WE ARE THE FUTURE. These are the leaders of tomorrow. I have the pleasure of witnessing the bud start to open up in front of me before we all get dispersed throughout the Northwest next year: I will be at Evergreen in Olympia, WA; Mikaele will hopefully be at University of Washington in Seattle, WA; Kaylee will be at Warner Pacific in Portland, OR; and Benny will be matriculating in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
This birthday was actually pretty magical. It dialed my vision of my life out into the big picture and I reflected contently. I am so happy, eager, and excited to graduate and start my new life.