Sarah on Sarah

People ask me all the time how Sarah is doing. Most of the time I say that she's doing the same as we are; having ups and downs and trying her best to find a new equilibrium in a world that has been turned upside down. And that's the truth. But other times when asked how Sarah is, I'll say that she is amazing. And that's the truth, too.


The other day Sarah was feeling badly that she didn't get another chance to be a sister. That she wasn't going to have the opportunity to learn from this experience and put that learning into practice, becoming a better, wiser sister. But I told her she was still a sister to Emma and that over the past year, she had been the wisest, best sister anyone could ask for. She has continued to love Emma unconditionally. She has refused to be ashamed, although there are some who would like her to be. She has honored Emma's life by fully participating in life herself. Once a kid who was content to be in the background, she chose this year to step out of the shadows. She courageously embarked on a journey of reflection and self-discovery and what she found were gifts and strengths she never knew she had. And in the process, she gave Emma's loss some meaning. It was as if she had adopted a new mantra, "It will not be a waste. I will learn and grow and I will make a difference for others because you made a difference for me."


I like that mantra. I want it to be mine, too.


Anyway, all this is just an introduction to a piece of Sarah's writing that I asked if I could share with you. It's her Author's Foreword to the portfolio of writing she put together from her year of work in Language Arts. I just love the piece and feel like it's not just a reflection of the growth in her writing, but also her growth as a person. And I think it's a window on the intuitive and insightful person she is. This is a piece of my Sarah:


Author’s foreword
Today, as I sit here with you reading my portfolio, I feel a lot like how I feel by the end of a four-day hiking trip in the high peaks. Now that I have done all of the work, all I can do is look back and feel proud of what this portfolio is. While I am hiking I barely have the time to stop and think about what I’m doing or have just accomplished. As you reach the top of a mountain you have a short chance to take in the view, but then as soon as you catch your breath you are back on the trail heading to your next destination, and then the next destination after that. I feel like this might sound like a negative thing, but I don’t mean it that way. All I’m really saying is that it is very easy to keep moving from one summit to the next and never look back at the view. This portfolio is my chance to take in all of the views I have seen this year. It’s my car ride home.


This year really has been like a trip through the woods; many times I have felt unsure of where I was going. I have gotten much better at reading maps as the weeks and months went by. This year I have had to do types of writing that I haven’t done before and I have to say, I’m proud of how those pieces turned out. Many times I’ve felt like the trail would never end, that I’d never see the view, and now that I’m here it doesn’t seem so long anymore. I have felt more out of breath this year than any year before, but now that I’m here on portfolio night, it is much more clear to me why I feel this way.


In my portfolio this year you will find a large variety of pieces, from short poems to seven page essays. Think of each piece I have in my portfolio as another mountain; some trails maybe a little rockier than others and no trail is completely smooth the whole way. Although very different, I think that they all show something about me as a writer or a person. I have written about each of the writing pieces that I decided to put in my 8th grade portfolio so that you can understand why I thought that the piece is worthy of a spot in my binder. These pieces of writing are called entry slips and they can be found in front of each piece. Each one of the pieces was chosen for a different reason. Some pieces I thought should be included because I thought that it was great writing. Some other pieces were included because I thought they showed growth. Others, well you can see for yourself.