CONGRATULATIONS, KIM!!

Sixteen years ago this past Wednesday, my family welcomed the first grandchild into the world and I became a Nana. I was too young to be a Nana and my daughter, Kim, was too young to be a mother. But that was our reality.

That day began a journey that we never expected to travel. It started as a detour and the detour had many curves, hills and valleys. But the journey has been successful. Highly successful.

Today, Kim will walk across the stage at the Atlanta Civic Center and graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree in Organizational and Psychological Behavior from Atlanta International University. This is a hard-earned, seems-like-a-long-time-in-coming event.

Even before today, Kim has been successful in her career. She rapidly moved through the ranks to become a manager for a major airline.

Personally, she has raised her son to be a wonderful young man who the entire family and everyone who knows him loves. Kim is a determined young woman. Without that determination that she developed in ther teens, she would not be where she is today.

She has become a loving and compassionate woman. Kim is a daughter that any mother would be proud of. But she is my daughter and there's never been a mother as proud as I am today.

Kim, there was never a single moment when I thought you would not get to this day. You have overcome obstacles that many girls and women never have to face. And you've done it with determination and strength and grace. I have always been proud of you. Always. But today, my pride knows no boundaries.

My prayer for you is that God will richly bless you no matter where your career takes you and that you will know the height and depth of God's everlasting and unconditional love for you!

Love,



MoM