Two years ago, Jan 15,2021, I shared a reflection by our daughter, Charlotte, about our youngest granddaughter, Riley….To see where Riley is now, another two years along, is remarkable!
“I just had my last meeting with Homewood High School admin and teachers about Riley’s 504 plan that was put in place during her freshman year when she entered the HHS school system. We moved from Crestwood to Homewood so we could be in a good public school system because of her mental health issues and her autism diagnosis.
After we went through the plan and made a few tweaks during the meeting this morning, I told everyone on the call how thankful we are for their willingness to work with us and create an environment where Riley can flourish. There were times when Riley was in middle school at Alabama School of Fine Arts and when she had to homeschool most of her 8th grade year when we weren’t sure if she’d be able to heal and live the sort of life she wanted to live. There were times when we thought she might not even be able to go to college.
The administration and all of Riley’s teachers have been a gift to her and to us. She is kicking ass academically, from a leadership standpoint as the yearbook editor, and as a member of the band after teaching herself how to play the clarinet and the saxophone. She also has a wonderful group of friends who love her and whom she loves.
Riley has high hopes to work as a poet, a literary translator, and a librarian after attending undergrad at UAB and being in the honors program there. She will major in French and creative writing and kick ass in those departments. She will study abroad in France while at UAB. She will then attend fancy grad school(s) because they will be falling over themselves to have her in their programs. And she will kick ass there, too.
Am I bragging about my brilliant daughter? Yes. But I’m also being a witness to God’s faithfulness to her and her gifts and talents. It took a village of admin and teachers at HHS, her therapist, her psychiatrist, her friends and family, and the grace of God for Riley to arrive where she is now. And she will continue to need a village and the grace of God moving forward.
Riley has also done her own work. She has learned a lot about how to live with mental illness1/, how to care for herself, and how to avoid triggers that cause her to slip into mania and depression.
Praise God.”
Today 1/15/23, Riley is spending six months in Europe. She left Christmas Day, spent several days in Paris. The she traveled by train to Solingen, Germany to spend New Year week with family friends. Then, on to university classes in Toulouse, France with a new cadre of American students studying abroad. She is living with a host family in a lovely village setting and visited her host mother’s fsmily at their country castle this weekend…. living the life, seeing the world, growing and becoming all God has intended for her! See what love and prayers for a child can accomplish!
Accompanied by many prayers, thoughts, encouragement and support from her Gigi! Papa would be so happy to see them all growing up so well!