. . . oratorical addi . . .

. . . addison competed today 

{for the third time ~ 

she already made it past her school and district competitions} 

in an oratorical contest . . .

. . . i never knew there was 

such a thing . . .

. . . all the contestants were dressed 

as their chosen character . . .

. . . addi chose helen keller . . .

. . . she was serious about it . . .

{how can it be that my grandchild is this old?} 

. . . she did an amazing job . . .

. . . her speech 

was completely memorized and 

~ AND ~ 

she signed the entire thing, too . . .

. . . she gave facts 

about the life of helen keller, 

her relationship with her teacher, 

annie sullivan, 

and she also included 

some of helen keller's 

own quotes . . .

. . . also represented were 

three georges and two abes . . .

{and molly pitcher, the printing press, baseball, walt disney, 

shirley temple, henry ford, and annie oakley ~ to name a few}

. . . after the speeches 

{and before the awards} 

the man on the left 

asked addi 

if she would visit 

his chapter of the lions club 

and give her speech 

at an upcoming meeting . . .

. . . addi was presented 

with the most coveted award 

of the competition . . . 

. . . an award named 

after a past grand master 

of the masonic lodge 

that sponsors the competition . . .

. . . addison could hardly wait 

to get home 

{it's a long drive from paradise valley to gilbert!} 

so she could pose for this photo 

and post it on instagram . . .

. . . as you might guess, 

i probably had a little tear in my eye 

as i watched her . . .

"walking with a friend 

in the dark 

is better than walking alone 

in the light."

~helen keller

{what a remarkable person}