MRS. YOUNG, ONE OF EMILY'S TEACHERS

The following message is posted here with permission of Mary Young, one of Emily's teachers from Forest Middle School who emailed it to Sonja a few days ago.  Mary was a great influence on Emily's life, which spread to our family.

~~~~~

     This has been a hard school year and I have often questioned if what I am doing is worth while.
      When I switched classrooms and they moved my computer, my co-pilot fell off. (Emily's picture).  I found her picture today and visited her blog spot.  She still makes me smile and her joy in learning to read gives me hope and strength to continue.
     Thank you for sharing Emily with me.
     "Hello-oh!"
      Love Mary Young

Terri Hofstrom's Dream

So many things about Terri's post below brought us a smile.  Someday Sonja and I will be collecting honey and picking raspberries with Emily.

Awareness Garden: Dedication of Emily's Brick

In Lynchburg, there is a beautiful trail for walking, biking, and jogging called the Blackwater Creek Trail.  At an entrance to it is an Awareness Garden for the purpose of heightening the awareness of cancer and providing college scholarships to those impacted by it.  Today, we attended a touching ceremony to dedicate bricks -- one of them was for Emily.

 Several families gathered to dedicate bricks in the garden on this beautiful fall day.