In 2005, a young girl was tragically killed here in Rockdale County as she was training for the Heritage High School Track Team. She was in my son's class and she died just after beginning the 10th grade. Her name was Aubrae Gunderson and she was a brilliant student and athlete. You may read more about her
here. They now have a Memorial Race in her honor and one of the things that her parents wanted on the race t-shirts was the acronym of her name that she had written in the 7th grade. It is such good advice that I wanted to share it with you.
A - void negative sources, people, places, things, and habits
U - nderstand yourself in order to better to understand others
B - elieve in yourself
R -ead, study, and learn about everything important in your life
A - void negative sources, people, places, things, and habits
E - njoy life today; yesterday is gone, and tomorrow may never come
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How sad that her tomorrow never came.
ReplyDeleteI know, it is so sad to read those last words of that acronym.
DeleteHer poor, poor parents! I can't think of anything worse for a parent than losing their child.
ReplyDeleteHer parents not only have this race in honor of their daughter but also, they have a college scholarship in her name that they give to a deserving Senior at Heritage High School every year. You are right, of course, losing a child would be very hard.
DeleteThat is tragic, Kay. How sad that she died so young. Judging by her acronym, she was wise beyond her years.
ReplyDeleteI know, I thought what she wrote was a great thing to have been written at such a young age. I love that she wrote about avoiding negative things, and she decided to repeat it, rather than use something else for the second "a"!
DeleteMy condolences to all who miss her; i know how hard it is to lose a child.
ReplyDeleteThat is a fabulous acronym, i'm glad they are using it in her memory.
I just went to the funeral home on Monday night, a family friend lost his son. Very sad indeed.
DeleteI think what she wrote was pretty special too.
Whew. I can only think of her parents. Parents who had two daughters like myself. She had a younger sister. It's breaking my heart just thinking about it. I am hearing way too often about people getting hit and killed by cars. I lost two people last year who were hit by trucks (an old colleague and, of course, my brother in law). It's so tragic and just a senseless loss. Thanks for sharing, Kay!
ReplyDeleteOh Audrey, I didn't know that was how your dear brother-in-law had died. I am so sorry.
DeleteA beautiful tribute! Thank you for sharing this with us, Kay. My heart goes out to her family and friends. She was so young.
ReplyDeleteHope you are doing well ~
Loi
Oh well, I can't write too much these days but I just wanted to let you see what this young woman had written.
DeleteThanks for your comment here. I loved your photos of when you were in London. You take such great pictures.
What an incredibly wise girl she was! Amazing that she had such insights as a 7th grader. The last line of her acronym is especially poignant. Such a tragic loss...
ReplyDeleteNow Beth, you are such a gifted writer, it means a lot that you love what she wrote too! And as you say, written when she was just in the 7th grade... so sad to lose someone so very young.
DeleteHow very sad.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. The highway that we travel down to get to Arabia Mountain is now named for her,that stretch is called the Aubrae Gunderson Memorial Highway.
DeleteThats wonderful. And I love the way they repeated the same thing for A instead of trying to find something else. Because perhaps that IS the most important thing to do!
ReplyDeleteI know! I love that she thought so much of avoiding negative things that she used it twice!
DeleteAnd I also love that a wonderful writer such as yourself can appreciate Aubrae Gunderson! Thank you!!
I meant "she" not "they". I liked this acronym so much I tweeted it.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, I knew what you meant. If I tweeted I could look at it!! :-)
DeleteWhat a sad, tragic thing. Aubrae sounds like she was an exceptional young girl. The acronym she left should be shared with everyone. It's so beautiful and so true.
ReplyDeleteIt surprised me to read what she wrote at such an early age. I am glad that her parents insist that her acronmyn be put on every race t-shirt that is given out.
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