Year 1 Day 92, 20Jun11

Jasmine is now 5'8.5" which is the last height I had recorded for Alicia in Oct'09. When I measured her, I felt a little pain knowing that Alicia would forever in my mind be the same height and 17 years old. I would not have the pleasure of guiding her through college, life, and beyond. That feeling washes over me like a wave of water on a beach. One second, I am staring right at it and the next, I am fully enveloped in my emotions.

When I watched the Rascal Flatts video "Here comes Goodbye" I thought of Alicia, my father, my mother, my uncle, and my aunt. Like above, this video caught me a little off guard. It is a beautifully made video and a wonderful song.

After watching the video, I was inspired enough to try my hand at rending a slide show on our Mac. The resulting video, I have put on my YouTube channel. I used a few pictures from when Alicia was in TEAM. I used Eric Clapton's unplugged 'Tears in Heaven' song and titled the video TEAM Memories. I hope you enjoy it. The pictures capture the essence of her free and lively spirit.

Until we meet again ichi.

Year 1 Day 85, 13Jun11

Graduation season is upon us. The TEAMies have returned from college. It is a hard feeling to see all the kids back after their 1st year in college. Alicia had so looked forward towards college and the experiences it would bring. We still have her acceptance letters and the condolence letter from the UC Chancellor with a note she had been accepted at Davis.

I missed the TAMASCAL graduation where Alicia's scholarship was bestowed upon Stephanie Kyne which will help her with a NOLs course in Patagonia. Congrats!

TEAM held a reunion last weekend to celebrate the retirement announcement of Chuck. Chuck has been the heart and soul of the TEAM program for over 20 years. Alicia really blossomed in the team program and continued to grow at Tamascal HS. We will reach out to some parents we know from TEAM to discuss establishing a not-for-profit foundation benefiting TEAM. After Chuck retires, I want ensure that this wonderful program is able to continue for future generations of kids. We'll probably need to off-set the salary of 1 teacher to ensure budgetary issues do not kill it.

I watched a video called 'Here Comes Goodbye' by Rascal Flatts. I lost it. The video was very well done and surprising. I must have cried for 5 minutes. Here is the link below.
http://youtu.be/17VudJ6lr4k

Year 1 Day 77, 05Jun11

Well...here it is. Our family picture as we stand today. When we went to review the proofs, we talked about how it felt without Alicia. We both shared a tear. It's not easy to look at these and feel that not having her with us is just 'off'.

Tamasical Graduation is this Tuesday. Alicia's scholarship will be bestowed for a 2nd year. The scholarship award person this year is unknown to me. I am conflicted a bit. We had established the scholarship loosely to allow Chuck flexibility. The award is supposed to be bestowed upon a person that best exemplified Alicia's qualities. Speaking with Cathie, I would like to ensure this will always be the case. To do so, I need to draft some of my initial thoughts and engage Chuck and the new principle of Tamasical HS.