The Saga of the Spelling Bee continued with Spelling Bee II - our girl competed this past weekend with 39 other middle school champions for the right to go to D.C. and be a part of the Scripps National Bee.
As I awoke the day of the spelling bee, my stomach had that churn that I used to have the morning of a game when I played football. Our girl was as relaxed as I've ever seen her. Sure, she was doing some last minute studying but just as cool as a cucumber. Dad? As we got closer to our departure time, I was getting closer to feeling like jello.
The event was a 3-hour extravaganza and our girl managed to make it into the 6th round as the 12th final contestant and then "spelled out" , as they say, on the word "cravat". She was the picture of calm and confidence everytime she stepped up to the mike. Meanwhile, back in the parents' room, Dad was a bundle of nerves until her last round.
Couldn't have been prouder of the girl. She did all she could and kept her cool throughout. What I discovered after this all ended was what was really important to me, day in and day out. There were some technical issues dogging our stations that same day but my mind was totally on the success of our girl. I really didn't give those station problems a thought once she hit the stage. I don't think any ratings success, soldout concert or big revenue month gave me as much exhiliaration as seeing that little girl giving everything she had in a very special competition.
I realized that, finally, I think the priorties are right. It took long enough!!!
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