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Yesterday my sister completed her undergraduate career at the University of Virginia. Kate and I made it down for the day, and while we missed the major commencement exercises, we were there to see her receive her diploma at her departmental ceremony.

Anybody who knows me knows that I hold my sister in very high regard. I hold my brother in high regard too but he’ll have to wait for his own post. Erin has grown up to a be a strong, independent, very spiritual, and generally well-rounded person that everybody in my family admires. Her natural intelligence and strong work ethic made her a wonderful student, and will make her successful in future endeavors. And her commitment to social justice and the Church have already shown fruits in her choices for those first few next steps.

I’m so pleased that Erin will have some time to spend with her family before the next stage in her life – a volunteer position at Nazareth Farm in West Virginia. Nazareth Farm is “devoted to developing relationships and eliminating sub-standard housing through home repair in rural West Virginia”. So we get Erin all to ourselves (as much as is possible) while she is home in the Fall.

Notice I specified the Fall. Erin will be plenty busy this summer as she BIKES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. As if that weren’t enough, the program she is involved with will stop periodically and build homes for those in need. I’ll have more about this later in another post, but it sounds like a once in a lifetime experience, and so much fun.

So congratulations, Sis! We are so proud of you and love you so much!