Katie Graduates!



If you have read Pure Florida for a while, or if you occasionally poke around in the older postings, you will have encountered Katie, our firstborn child.

There are posts about her birth in ... um, Georgia (for the record, we did not let her feet touch the ground until we took her home to Florida a few weeks later, so technically she was born in Florida).

There is a post about Katie standing up and running from the bow to the stern of my canoe. Honestly, the gator ahead was not that big ... I don't know what she was thinking.

There are posts of her scalloping, shooting the Glock, surfing, parasailing, snorkeling, playing soccer, cheerleadering, playing basketball (briefly ...broken nose), fishing, climbing, excelling in school, and scaring us to death with allergy attacks.

 Their are posts with her and the much beloved pack of dogs who helped raise her through the years. Her relationship with one dog in particular, a chocolate lab named Ranger, ... um, well, it still remoistens my contact lens when I picture the two of them.
Nuff said.

And there are posts, misty ones like this one, where she reaches some milestone while I try to wrap my head around the fact that time truly does fly.
 Milestones... high school graduation, first car, 18th birthday, 21st birthday, ... they're all here in the back channels of Pure Florida.

Yet another ...

This week, she will graduate with honors from the University of South Florida. Today, we'll celebrate her accomplishment by the side of a river with family, friends, ... and food, lots of food ... this is Katie we're talking about.

Congratulations Katie ... we love you.