For a big scholarship, today Dennise and I wrote eight essays by pulling gems from essays we previously created. Then we wrote a new essay.

Dennise learned how she will miss her parents when she goes to college. Dennise's parents and she speak Spanish at home, since her parents don't speak English very well.

Since age seven, Denise has been translating for her parents at doctor's offices, parent-teacher meetings, hospitals, etc. Dennise is fluent in English and Spanish.

Dennise realized it is a relief and comforting to hear Spanish because it is her home language. A good insight. We talked about how important family is to Mexican immigrants like her parents.

"When I married Terry Valdez, his mother expected him to call her when we left and when we arrived in Seattle," I told Dennise. "Then again when we got home. I thought it was nuts. My parents were so blasé, they figured they would hear about it on the news if my plane crashed."

We laughed.