Kelsey's moment to shine



Kels and her proud momma!!!

Kels and her proud Daddy!!!

Kels and her big dang check!!!

My girl kelsey filled out many scholarship applications. I am proud to say she has been awarded four. The biggest one is from the Florida Transportation  & Builders Association. Devin found the scholarship for us and Kelsey filled it out. They were very choosey about their winners. Kelsey won this scholarship because of her academic brilliance, community & church service and her sparkling personality. She also had to write an essay. We are very partial to our last name but i am happy to say that it did not help nor hinder kelsey in this process. We got a call that she was chosen for an interview and  that they were very impressed with her academic resume. We were so excited. We made an appointment for the interview in tampa. When we got there we found out kelsey would be first. She fought through her nerves and had a great interview. She told me they made her feel really comfortable and she made them laugh a few times which made her relax. The whole ride home she went over and over the interview in her mind. We finally got a letter in the mail. I could not even wait for her to open it because i needed to know if it was good news or bad. I guess i will try to be that cushion for her forever. it was good news! She had been chosen with 13 other students to receive a very generous sum of money yearly for four years. I could not wait to tell her. We screamed and jumped up and down and then called Devin because that is what we have always done with"kelsey good news." We had also been invited to come to the FTBA annual convention in West Palm Beach. We would be staying at the famous Breakers Resort. ( talk about country come to town... check out the other post) They wanted to showcase and celebrate their winners with  a dinner and present them their checks at a breakfast. The kicker was that each student had to make a 3 minute speech on a topic of their choosing. It would be their moment to shine. Me being so O.C.D. and kind of  over organized i said she should get started on her speech. I got the "mom, have you lost your mind look" and i am sure a rolling of the eyes. I said okay just don't wait until the night before. My precious queen of procrastination says so lovingly.... Okay mom.  The time has come and i start packing. Kels has done half of her  speech two days before we leave. The other half is done literally  the night before. She always  does this to me. We have been doing this for 12 years so why change now. We both freak out just a little... Not completely and she always  gets it done at the last minute. And it is always good. Kelsey did write the speech, Annie is always our editor and spell checker and our make it flow - er. The speech was really good. I was really excited but poor kels was a nervous wreck. We pull into west palm and realize we are in another world. Everything is different. Pug and i are still excited, but poor kels is still nervous. We get settled and ooh and ahh over all the fancy gadgets. Time for the meet and greet. It is only the winners and their families and a few board members. Very casual. The students all sat together and seemed to get along.  We met some really nice people. Kels could not eat which says a lot. We took some pictures and went back to the room. We all had a restless night in the same bed. Funny story... the other post.  We got up, got ready and we were off. Kels looked so pretty in her yellow dress but i could still tell she was nervous. At this point even momma can't do anything except be there. It did not help that we found out the night before that there would be 900 people in the ballroom. Now usually my go to number for everything is 900 no matter the real number. This time it was really 900. Kelsey only knew personally 4 people in this room of strangers. Her momma, Dad, Uncle Jack and Aunt Charlene. She has spoken in front of  church and at FFA banquets, but informed me quickly that she knew all those people. This would be a challenge! we anxiously awaited her turn and it finally came. She pulled back her chair and stood up. She looked kind of pale but i knew she had this! She walked up the stairs with a heavy burden on her shoulders but with her head held high and the poise of a lady. She smiled that stunning smile, tossed that beautiful mane of hers, and let those 900 people have it. She was amazing. She was awesome. She spoke slow and was very articulate. She looked up when she needed to and laughed when she needed to and was serious when needed. After a few seconds i looked over at her Daddy aka"the photographer of all things good", and he had not lifted the camera. I tapped his arm and when he looked at me he did it with tear filled red eyes. I nunged the camera and he was able to take one picture. He did not want the flash to bother her. The enormous amount of pride that was exuding from pug and myself was so strong i could feel it pouring from our bodies and filling this massive ballroom spilling out into the halls and covering the ocean outside. Yes we are that proud. This is ONE of kelsey's many shining moments and i am sure there will be many more to come. But there was  something so surreal about this moment. We saw our baby girl  in a different light. She's grown. Still our baby girl, still oozing goodness but grown. It is a lot to take in. She was magnificent. She did it and did it very well. What an extremely great representation of the Whitehurst family. She finished and walked to the other side and got a picture with her big dang check. This girl was proud of herself. What greater gift to a parent than to see self confidence and self pride in your child. She walked back to her seat again with her head held high and with a much lighter step. It was done and it was done well. After more awards and some pictures we were done and ready to go. Finally kels looked at me and said "i am starving, let's eat" music to this mommas ears. My girl was good!!! Kels did agree that all this was worth the money for school. But i don't know if she could go through it again any time soon.                         Aug. 2012