Smart, talented and beautiful – you’re an unbeatable combination.  Congratulations on graduating from fourth grade!  Middle School awaits in September.  Proud of you Ainsley!

Moharimet School playground.

recess

jumping & reaching for a bar

that you missed completely.

landing on your mouth and nose, literally, no bracing the fall

pain, hurt, shock

blood.  lots of blood

people running around

your Mom coming to get you

emergency room @ hospital.

doctors & nurses.

chaos, questions. concerns

There are bad days at school and there are bad days at school.  Your Friday, March 24 was the latter kind,  a day you’ll always remember, even when you’re old and gray.

It wasn’t a pretty sight.  Your face took the full force of the fall.  Upper teeth pushed out of their sockets and bent.  Nose septum fractured.  20+ stitches, most of which were inside your mouth.  Face not looking like Ainsley’s normal beautiful face.

For days, your parents (and grandparents) hovered, wondering what would happen, how things would play out.  Would you loose your upper teeth? Would your nose come back to its normal size?  Would your ability to smell be affected?  Vision? What had to happen and when (in terms of fixing things, surgery, etc.).  How long to wait, to figure things out?

Calls with doctors, surgeons and dentists. Meetings. Conversations.  Fear & frustration.

It was a high stress time, filled with chaos, questions and concerns.

And through it all there was something mind-blowing that didn’t fit into the whole scene.  Through all the stress, chaos, questions and concerns, there was Ainsley Beaupre

Not crying.  (we never saw you cry).

Never freaking out.

Going with the flow.

Plucky and fearless.

Calm as a cucumber

Sure, you were concerned about a few things, and had a few questions for your parents, but what I witnessed was a nine year old girl  (okay, nine and three-quarter year old girl)  who faced adversity, fear and pain head on with amazing grace.  Grammy stayed with you a lot during your recovery, at your house and ours, and through it all she observed the same thing:

Bravery.  You were incredibly brave.

That’s what we’ll always remember.

praying everything will be okay.

Love you Ainsley.

When I was a kid, my favorite sport was basketball.  I wasn’t very good, but I sure loved shooting at the orange rim attached to a wooden backboard on Lord Court in Somersworth.   The ball inevitably bounced poorly and flew over the chain link fence, forcing me to jump the fence and run rapidly down the hill by the church before the ball landed on busy High Street below.  Despite the endless journeys (I missed a lot), I never grew tired of shooting hoops.

Those were the hay days of the Boston Celtics when Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Sam Jones (among many others) dominated the parquet and racked up eight consecutive NBA titles.  Let me repeat that:  eight National Basketball Association titles in a row!  No team has ever done it since, or come close.  The Red Sox went 80 years before winning the World Series; the Bruins didn’t win a Stanley Cup in modern times until 1970, and the Boston Patriots never won much of anything.  But the Celtics!  They were the gem of New England sports.

Later on, during the eighties, Larry Bird was the Celtics’ big star, leading his team to three NBA titles.  You probably remember my Larry Bird room in the big house at Waterloo?  I had an autographed Bird jersey, autographed basketball, posters and artwork adorning the walls of my “man room” where the pool table was front and center. Bird was always my favorite.

So imagine my sheer delight at finally having a grandchild – YOU – interested in basketball and doing well.   It’s so exciting seeing you steadily improving in Year Two of your hoops career… you’re already one of the best girls on your team.

One of my favorite moments with you over the past year was teaching you a few set plays at your house on Surrey Lane.  Dribble. Pass. Cut. Look. Shoot. Score.  You were a perfectionist, refusing to give up until you could do it the way you wanted to do it.  We were out there a long time.

I hope you stick with it and I can see you play in Middle School and High School. That would be so cool.

Ainsley Hoops Girl.

Swish.

This will be a big year for you Ainsley:

9 years old to double digits (how can that be?)

graduating from Moharimet

starting Middle School (double-down on the ‘how can that be?’)

new adventures

taller

faster (you’re going to try running track)

even smarter

Out of all our grandkids, you’re the one who’s physically changed the most.   Here’s some proof, a photo of you with your buddy Molly.  Molly still looks like Molly, don’t you think?  (Hey, what are you doing to her head?) Check out the photo after that… Ben, Emma, Camden and Molly and you at Santa’s Village. Who’s that girl on the far left?

The 2016 holiday season was filled with wonderful experiences together including the annual Dover Christmas parade; Middle school concerts; a Christmas Eve get together at Surrey Lane; Christmas day at the Clickman’s (the Beaupre’s were in Maine this year); and a big day after celebration – all together – at 30 Shore Lane.