glenrockschwartz

Dear Avery, I've been thinking about what to write to you to commemorate your turning eleven and what I realize is that it may have been a year of growing pains, but today on your eleventh birthday you have emerged from a place of stretching and growing to a really balanced and happy place...at least for the time being.  I am sure that as you enter middle school and the true tween to teen years that there will be angst.  But for now, you are sunshine (of course, with the occasional thunderstorm thrown in). So let's discuss that growth and your success (and yes, some failures) that make you a wonderful young lady.  I wrote myself a list of what I wanted to write about: academic success, emotional growth, basketball & lacrosse & goalie, art & dance, Shayna, pink hair & braces & six (!) pairs of glasses. I could almost write nothing more than that list and you would remember exactly what the past year has been, but I believe a few insights and anecdotes are