who taught me to

...choose with no regret....

or to reach for the gold ring

who made me fall in love with writing

and reach for my dreams

who taught me how to appropriately cook my starbursts

and to appreciate all things vintage
(and even supplied me with the most perfect vintage dress for a formal!)

Jeremy Lindblom- and the dress of awesomeness- wish you could see the back!

who let me into her family

Jake and i with Craig the day he returned from his mission. Me=ecstatic.

and with whom did i share a common obsession of caffeine

who taught me to see myself as who i could be...

when i had to write about going to college and becoming a teacher in your class,
i guess i never really thought i would get there...

and taught me to be about the journey...

Craig Marie Smith: i aspire to write, to love, to live, to share, to be, to teach, and to become...

...because of what i gained from you

love, Megoryan Marie Smith (Meg Ryan)

Mesa High will miss you.
When my mom asked me what you were going to do now I said, "Chello! She is going to go shopping and buy all the cool stuff she ever wanted and turn it into other cool things and then maybe sell it, or maybe just keep it... or maybe she will hang out with her awesome husband or a-freakin-dorable daughter... i don't know! Duh..."

as a side note/post script: i just saw "The Miracle Worker" (about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller). It was beautiful and by the end, my show-going buddy (Jared Cardon- duh, who else to see shows with?!) and i were in tears. it was a compelling performance (Stephanie Brinholt) and i reveled in the idea that this woman will forever be remembered by the retelling of her story. Helen- you were an inspiration and went on to do beyond incredible things, include perform in vaudeville, write 14 books, and be the first woman to get an honorary degree from Harvard...
but Annie- you were her teacher.
as sappy as that might sound,
i love it.