09/23/2024
I received the MOST INCREDIBLE gift this week from my husband. A book that represented all of my years at SHINE PERFORMING ARTS in Downtown Gresham, OR. Dear friends and co workers Danielle Roberts and Hailey Griggs put in hours and hours of work to reach out to former families and students to send in beautiful heartfelt notes and pictures of their children’s time at SHINE. together for me from imput from former families of SHINE. I still think of all of them as “ my babies” - even the ones who are getting as tall as me now!! I cried, and I mean an ugly cry for an hour as I mused through the almost 300 pages of memories. It starts with the artwork of Cassie Fisher who painted her “ vision” of what Shine is ( that used to hand over my desk at Shine) on the front cover, then moves to pages and pages of amazing memories with the Dancers, Preschoolers and Summer Camp students over a decade. It then includes fliers of camps, dance classes and recital programs. It shows pictures of the children’s books I have written ( all available at Amazon or Barnessnd Bible.com if you haven’t gotten yours yet) and ends with a picture of SHINE from the outside and my farewell letter to families when I knew that it was time to let go of Shine. What a beautiful career -I am so very thankful to you all who blessed me with this book. I will cherish it forever. And thank you God for the opportunity to steward Shine for over a decade!!!
