Vilate!

 Vilate turned twelve in June. She craves the spotlight and why not? It craves her. Her last school year found her as student body president, choir and band member, lead in the school play, star guitar and lead guitar club member, founder of several clubs, and with a flawless GPA- leading her to the Honors middle school track she's on today. Last week she gave her first Sacrament Meeting talk- with all the poise and confidence we expected of her. Vilate is a white-hot conflagration of talent and charisma; defender of the downtrodden- with the strength of will to intervene and prevail in most conflicts.

I find it amusing that oftentimes a younger child will approach me with a request, Vilate will answer on my behalf while I consider my response, and the child will go away in an attitude of defeat as if Vilate's word is the law and have to be called back to receive my answer. That's our Vilate. We love her spirit! She has her father's knack for imitating voices, accents and dialects. A mondo musician, tearing it up on guitar, hefty vocals and sax, she is also the consummate hostess.

When she helms a get-together, the invitations are decorative and handmade, the favors lavish and personalized, and the food displayed in her own collection of just-so presentation-ware- with no parental assistance. If we're at a thrift shop, she gravitates to the most resplendent drinking and parfait glasses, and will purchase them if she has the cash. She is an intuitive, creative and luxurious cook- purveying the most tempting of treats in as apropos a manner as is in her power- i. e., how else should fries be displayed but in a waxed paper lined, oval mesh basket (which she acquired herself for that express purpose)?

She is just as proactive about helping as she is about taking charge- volunteering and pitching in wherever she sees a need. She's a gem at the grocery store- running price totals, finding elusive items, and loading and unloading with everything she's got! I love her intensity, her boldness her honesty, her style, her humor, her hugs and her belly-laugh. Her tough exterior houses a sympathetic heart, seething with compassion and a desire to provide relief. I so much admire the capacities she has that I lack, and the times and conversations I've had with her, in which she's bared her tender heart, are as precious to me as any in my life. Vilate, girl, I'll love you always and forever!