Michael,

Today at 7:11am, my youngest Hannah turned 18 years old.  She was a joy from the moment she careened into the world.  She wasted no time in getting here (3 hours, 11 minutes from start to finish) and that is how she has continued to live her life.  Not one moment is wasted, but not in the silly fill your time busy; a worthwhile busy.  She sees a need and fills it without thinking.

It started early.  When she was in kindergarten, she thought she could benefit from weekly meetings with the Gates school guidance counselor, Mr. Brusie.  Her father and I had just divorced and she was really sad about it. Talking to him made her feel so good that she correctly deduced that other kids with divorced parents must be going through this as well and she could help them feel better.  She suggested to Mr. Brusie they invite other kids to the weekly sessions, and the Divorced Kids Support Group was born.  Mr. Brusie and Hannah are no longer at Paul P. Gates Elementary School, but the support group still exists.

She has raised countless dollars for every charity she comes across.  She’s jumped rope and trick or treated for UNICEF.  She’s collected books for Afghani school children.  She’s done countless hungercropcancerhomelessshelterbatteredwomenbirthdefects walks.  She spent the last two summers as a counselor for under-privileged kids at the Knickerbocker YMCA camp in Maine.  She has been VP for 4 years of both the Jr. Rotary Club of Acton and Acton Boxborough Community Outreach, and she sits on the board of directors for the United Way.

She wants to go to college in Switzerland?  She makes it happen!  It doesn’t enter her mind that it’s not a possibility.  She is good at raising money for herself too.  By academic merit and essay writing for scholarships, she managed to get roughly 40% of her fees reduced from the school.

This kid is my hero.  She has done more for AB and her sphere of influence in her mere 18 years than most people do with their whole lives.  THIS is what you can accomplish if you don’t think you can’t.  I can’t wait to see what other journeys she takes herself on and what’s in store for the rest of her life, but I know it includes at least a dozen adopted Asian girl grandbabies for me.  Stay tuned…

Jen Kero Koeller