Above and Beyond

One of the great benefits of raising kids has been the opportunity to meet and having the pleasure of  getting to know other wonderful children, teens and young adults. We have crossed paths with so many truly amazing young people coming into their own. So much talent and determination by so many as they pursue their dreams and goals.  We have befriended other families with children involved in the same activities as those of our own children. Baseball participation provided the framework to form many of our local community connections. There we met many young athletes working hard to improve skills and contribute to their team. When my daughter participated in USAG gymnastics we witnessed girls with a work ethic beyond their years. We have seen a similar passionate dedication among her peers in dance.

Whatever the forum, I have consistently seen young ones with a desire to learn and reach beyond their current situation. Those young baseball players practicing well past daylight, gymnasts in the gym doing the routine one more time, musicians pushing their limits trying another instrument. I've watched some change their focus to other pursuits while taking the lessons from the field or the gym into other bigger venues of interest. Others, I've seen continue with their first love.

Seeing a young person stretch their reach with the practice of a skill and taking that skill into new avenues of growth is a joy to watch.  Seeing someone stretch and find a foot hold in a world bigger than the one they were handed is exhilarating. The young ones that inspire me the most are the ones whose desired goals are well beyond the scope of their given obvious environmental, family or financial resources. Those whose families may not be able to have handed them lessons or training, on a silver platter.

Above and beyond is how I see it. It takes tenacity and commitment to keep going when you see that your family has to sacrifice to allow you to pursue your dream. It takes even more when your family asks you to contribute to funding your own training. Sometimes that means asking adults outside of family for resources, researching potential scholarship opportunities or working at a job during off training and school hours. I have seen it happen and I am impressed. It doesn't lessen the accomplishment of those whose families can provide all of the resources for pursuing a course of study or the attainment of a dream but it does add an additional layer of admiration to the equation.

For awhile now I have wanted to start a website to feature and possibly add a way to offer assistance to kids in circumstances beyond their control. Circumstances that limit their access to the teaching, mentoring and/or training they would love to have and would best utilize. I've been pushing the idea back, overwhelmed with the thought of work on another blog or website besides the ones I already have. It recently dawned on me that like with everything else; and like the young ones that inspired this idea, I can begin with what I've got! I can start featuring some of these amazing young people right here on this blog; Run Ran Fam - Family Learning and Adventures.

With excitement for a new feature page here for this purpose, my list of amazing young ones to feature is growing before I even begin.


First up; drum roll please!
Mayshell Morris!

I'll be sharing a post about this wonderful young flute player soon.