My oldest daughter wrote this.  it is pretty amazing.

When you find something in life that is really important to you and you have the chance to make it your job…..you are lucky.   My parents have always told us that we need to find something that we want to do and go for it.   I love to cook.  I love the excitement, I love the fast paced environment but what I love the most is that I get to create something that someone can immediately enjoy.  So I cook and I want to be a Chef.  How did I get here?  I’m not a typical seventeen year old in fact, I’m kind of a dork.  This is not a statement I make to down myself it’s actually quite the opposite.  I’m a little unfiltered and sometimes comments fly out of my mouth before I think them through which often results in laughter.  I do believe that laughter can really help you get through tough situations.  This was definitely the case when I applied for my first job at the Amber Lantern.  I was a sixteen year old, small framed girl whose only job experience was babysitting, asking a top Chef in a fine dining restaurant for a job in his kitchen.  Needless to say I went for it and we laughed.  (I got the job!)

I was born in Virginia and have lived here all my life.  I’m the oldest of four kids and I was raised in a very loving home.  Food tends to be the center of our world.  My dad was a graduate of Johnson and Whales and works for a local food distributor and mom works in a restaurant.  We are always talking about food, planning meals, cooking and feeding guests.  We make it a priority to eat together whenever possible.  It helps us connect and stay up to date on what’s going on in each other’s lives    I remember my parents taking me to restaurants as a young girl.  Now when I go to restaurants I like to “critique” and take pictures of good looking meals and “collect” menus.  I guess you could say it’s in our blood.

I tend to be the “strong-willed” one in the family.  When I want something, I work hard to get it.  I voice my opinion when I am passionate about something.  I’m competitive when need be and pay close attention to details.  I love to listen to music and dance.  I have been on a competitive dance team for the last six years.  We travel to different cities to compete.  I love practicing to help prepare for the competition, the butterflies I get once I hit the stage and the surprise on the audiences faces once they see our dance.  I have a close group of friends who I am super grateful for. I am loud and happy!

I can’t believe it!  I’m about to graduate from Grassfield High School!  What use to seem like a long journey, has gone by so quickly.  I know they say to be sure to savor every moment of High School but I’m the type of person that gets excited about starting my career.  I want to be a Chef.

I called him Shepherd.  It started out as Mr. Shepherd 30 years ago when I started to court his daughter.I once saw a talk and it was titled How to be the coolest person at your own funeral. Its him John Melvin Shepherd He is missed, he is loved because he showed love, he showed it unconditionally, the most giving man I have ever met.He defined- give and don’t expect anything in return. Married 58 years to his high school sweetheartWatched 15 seasons of survivorAte cereal with out milkCouldn’t take medicine in the pill formHad to have an extra cup of ice with his un sweet Ice tea.Well done food or im gonna send it backHe was the best dad a pair of daughters could ever ask forHe was a blessing to his grandbabiesThe man who went into the hospital on Aug 2He was in the hospital for 58 daysHe lost 70 lbs

I never know what to say when someone has a loss.  This is different its not someone this is us, our family. This didn’t just hit close to homeIt hit my home. I tell folks…im sorry for your loss im sorry for your pain and your grief and your sadness. As I look at Anita im sorry for your loss and the familyIm sorry for our loss.And as I look at my wife….my high school sweet heart my soul mate, im heart-broken for you your sadness.But Shepherd is seeing all this, because he believed in heaven, he believed in our lord Jesus Christ and he sees this.I want to tell him one thing….i got it…I will take care of Anita, I will take care of Rhonda and the family so don’t worry about that.Don’t worry about that.