Don’t give up on one who may take long path to maturity

A member of my family reaches a significant milestone this week and I couldn’t be more proud.

My sister, Katie, will graduate from nursing school this week, and to say that it has been a long journey to get to this point would be a major understatement.

The rest of my family and I have always been supportive and have encouraged her, quick to offer advice or help of any kind. She would accept it when she needed it but also tried to do, and did, a lot of it on her own.

In the back of our minds we knew that one day she would reach a goal like this but now that it has arrived, we look back on all of the days that led her to the point and just shake our heads in amazement.

I can’t wait to see her make her commencement.

It wasn’t always easy for Katie. She didn’t adjust to our move to Georgia very well. I was leaving in the middle of my senior year and Katie was leaving in the middle of her eighth grade year. She wouldn’t be able to start high school with all of the kids she grew up with and would have to find a new peer group. She did and, well, let’s just say they weren’t the best peer group in the world.

After moving down here, she had to deal with my parent’s divorce and her big brother being away at college. So all of the problems that were beginning to manifest themselves got magnified and it took a long time to get a handle on her life.

We were always there for her and she found some support at school from counselors like Faith Hardnett and teachers like Damian Belvedere.

She graduated from high school on time and we all sat in the stands, about as proud as we are this week, but this time it feels different. This time we have all seen her work harder than ever and keep a laser-like focus for an exceptionally long period of time.

This week it feels like she has finally reached the end of one chapter of her life and is truly ready to begin another.

The signs of her maturity have been there for years. She has worked at Dogwood Forest, an assisted-living home, for close to four years and owns a home in Senoia with her husband of one year.

Katie will always be my little sister, but now its hard not to see the adult she has become.

The lesson for everyone out there is to never give up. If you are a student who doesn’t always get the best grades or doesn’t have the best study habits, keep plugging away and work at it. Ask everyone you know for help.

I don’t know a lot about anatomy or pharmacology, but I proofed a lot of papers for my sister so that there were no grammatical errors or spelling mistakes.

If you have someone in your family who maybe gets into a little trouble at school or otherwise, never stop loving them and never stop believing that they can make a turnaround.

If they want it bad enough, it will happen.

Katie wants to be a nurse, continuing a family tradition and joining my mother and aunt among the ranks of those who care for other people when they need it most.

She has a big heart, as all of her friends and family can attest, and will make a great nurse.

Congratulations, Katie.