How She Shows Us What Grit Means
Dear Reader,
Every day, Odettians overcome challenges even when they seem impossible. The stories we hear from our Odettians show us that we are surrounded by grit.
How she stood there in the darkness wondering if she had the strength to make it through the night. And somehow the sky helped her believe it was possible.
How she needed to leave home, the home that had tried to bury her alive, and how she made it to a safe house, finally able to rebuild her life.
How she lost her husband, and told me, “my child is not an orphan, I will be her father and mother.” How she got her daughter admitted to school, on her own, with her own money.
How she married him against her parent’s wishes - and the death threats of cousins and neighbors. How she decided not to live in fear anymore. How she owns her happiness.
How her parents stole her computer and laptop so she would stop working and get married. How she decided to move out of her home, get a new computer, and follow her dreams. How she paid for her own Masters in Computer Science, lighting a flame under her dreams.
We, the Odettian community, are bound together by these stories of resilience and love.
In honor of these women,
Katharine