Monday, May 18, 2009

My three daughters

All of my daughters were in town this weekend. That doesn't happen very often anymore. As we gathered to celebrate Kelsey's belated 20th birthday, I paused to consider just how great they are and how much I love all three of these remarkable ladies (and their Mom, too.)

When each one of them was born, I had male relatives ask me if I was disappointed that that particular child wasn't a boy. I was later asked if I regretted that I never had a son. I wasn't and told them so. A lot of guys said, well, I bet you wanted boys so they could be athletes and carry on the family name.

First, did you ever see how many Richardsons there are in the average phonebook? There is no shortage.

Second, I did everything with my girls that a Dad would do with their boys while they were growing up. I coached them. I played games and sports with them. I hung out with them. I didn't miss anything.

Aimee was a three-sport athlete in junior high and a dancer in high school. Mallory played basketball from the time she was five years old up through her freshman year of high school. She became one of the top distance runners in the state of Kansas, was all-state in cross country and ran at KU for a year where she competed in the NCAAs. Kelsey was a competitive gymnast, went to state as a diver in high school and ran cross country. She is a gymnastics coach today. But what's even better is their non-athletics resume:

Aimee: Phi Beta Kappa in English and Sociology from KU, 2005. JD from the KU School of Law in 2008. She's a practicing attorney. Her husband Ryan is an assistant district attorney.

Mallory: Phi Beta Kappa in Psychology from KU, 2007. She just finished her second year of medical school and will graduate from the KU School of Medicine in 2011. Her husband Alan will do the same in 2012.

Kelsey: She just finished her sophomore year at KU and will follow my footsteps and enter the KU School of Journalism in the fall.

Sorry for the bragging, but thinking about this past weekend just reminds me of how proud I am of my three daughters. And I now have great sons in Alan and Ryan.

1 comment:

kelsey siobhan said...

aw shucks! Thanks dad, love you too :)