Fiona's a Star!

 My daughter, hamming for the camera when we got to the Great School in the City!  She looks so shy doesn't she?  LOL  And the ring I brought her went perfectly with this outfit, which I thank the goddess for.  I had no clue what she was wearing!

 Looking pensive here and I love this shot.

And Rob, looking as relaxed as he was all night. And this was about the first 15 minutes or so.  I think he was very nervous about seeing his cousins again. It has been a long time.  Many many years.  I tried to initiate conversation about that before we went  and he made it pretty clear that he was "fine."  So I let it ride and will see if we have better luck with talking AFTER the visit. Cause he sure wasn't fine.  His posture was more tense and guarded than I have seen in years.  And his cousins were super nice and have really changed and become so much more kind and accepting.

Fiona rocked out her Lauryn Hill song and KC pronounced to one and all that his sister was the best!  I kept trying to temper that remark as truly every student did amazingly and you could see what a huge leap they were making getting up to sing.  Not an easy thing even  for the "normal" to contemplate.  So much harder with issues of trauma, brain injury, Tourettes, paralysis depression and more.  The issues these students face are all hard.  Listening to a parapalegic sing the song "Flying without Wings" about brought me to tears.  But many of the performers including my daughter did that to me several times.  She is a fighter.  She is sensitive. She is talented. She is fragile. She is my daughter.  I love her.  And tonight, she openly embraced me, called me her mom, introduced me to friends as such, even while introducing her cousins. There was no line.  We were family, encircling her with love and it was the best feeling in the world.