My niece's graduation

What a wonderful day it was yesterday.

I had the blessing of attending my niece's high school graduation! It was a huge thing for her, as is for all students, but for Samantha, it was even more.

Sam has gone through many hardships and enough to even make her come so close to quitting school. But with support and strength she pushed through and prevailed! And I am ever so proud of her for achieving such a task.

She is the first to graduate of her 5 siblings, setting the bar nicely for the 4 behind her. It gives great encouragement for the others that look up to her.

I was so excited to see her. All week (and more) we talked about it; talking about the event, the hair, the jewelry, she even helped me figure out what to wear! I haven't been out to any special events in a long time that required me to get all fancy! Don't worry, no pics of me, I'm nice enough to not scare you guys with that...Or am I???

Ok I think it's time I show you how beautiful she is on such an important day!

She was just glowing in her beautiful gown. I think this is the very first time I see her in a dress :p

2 days ago I went to town to shop for a gift. I am not great at coming up with gift ideas so this was definitely a hard task. I decided to hit the jewelry shop, thinking she's young and deserved something nice for a change.

I was in the jewelry store for half an hour, going over the same necklaces, bracelets and rings many times, indecisive of what she would like. Then I saw it. It was on a wall display. The most perfect pendant, shining in the light. Nothing was more suiting for this new phase in her life so I paid for it, had the box engraved with a few words and nicely gift wrapped for her.

It has her name on it and says congratulations in french with the date and a heart.

The pendent is a white gold hand of Hamsa (I've also found hand of Fatima... I need to do more research but believe they have similar meanings, if not the same.)

It is to bring happiness, health, luck and good fortune. I have even found a little prayer that goes with it on the internet.
You can get more of an explanation on this website here if you like. The prayer goes:

Let no sadness come to this heart,
Let no trouble come to these arms,
Let no conflict come to these eyes,
Let my soul be filled with the blessing of joy and peace.

Even though we are not Jewish (or other strong believers of religion), I still believe that talismans (and other items) are strong key items that can help us keep going. You can see her wearing it in the first picture :D She absolutely loved it!

We had an eventful evening filled with joy, laughter and food. We were given a show from the schools choral, singing Bohemian Rhapsody, a total delight! Along with speeches and words being said, the diplomas were handed out.

In this not so great quality image, she was handed a grant for success through her hardships. I am not translating what is written exactly. I'm not always great with translations lol.

After the throwing of the hats and shouts of "WOOHOO WE DID IT!" and having a late supper, we ventured out to see what we could grab for pics. I couldn't stay for much longer because of having to drive 2 hrs back home in the dark is a bit challenging for me.

So we had a mini session. The ones to follow are the better ones that came of it.

Wishing I had better camera skills, sometimes when on the spot it's like I forget how to even use it. Bummer but I still think these ones are not bad.

All in all she is a beautiful woman who has succeeded such a hard and long part of her life and is now onto the biggest adventure yet! And as her aunt, I am with her 100%, supporting and loving her every step of the way.

For my niece:

Today's actifit count is mostly from me gardening. Not much step count from standing around pulling out weeds and planting. I am getting more and more done everyday and will soon have enough to make a post of it.

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