28

Katie would have turned 28 on Saturday. So many of her friends are graduating and/or getting married and it's just hard to grok.

We spent a quiet weekend, in part because I'm getting over a bout of BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo). This is the second or third such: I spent a miserable day in a hotel room in Ontario with Katie and Anita over a decade ago, with the room spinning, and then had a minor bout 16 months ago.

This one wasn't too bad—no actual "spinnies"—but of course it decided to hit while I was in California visiting company HQ, which was inconvenient. I bailed early, got home and crashed for ten hours or so.


On a brighter note, I spent the Saturday before Thanksgiving running judging at an FLL tournament in DC. Two of my judges were high school girls who reminded me of Katie in the most general of ways: young, enthusiastic, smart, and personable. One of them is the daughter of another long-time FLL volunteer with whom I've worked, and was actually a Capital Girl (long after my co-coach and I had moved on, but continuing the name and legacy).

And this morning I got email from her dad saying that she had been awarded the Katie Smith Memorial Award at this year's state FLL competition. This is an award given to a volunteer who is deemed to have helped spread the message and experiences available through FLL. Nice.