(Found on an old hard disk under Kathy’s folder. — Ed)

Dear Nicole,

Today, many emotions will collide and join together as tears. A little bit of sadness, a lot of pride, true happiness for you, some worry, and a tinge of envy will be taken with me when we say our good-byes.

Over the past few weeks I’ve watched the physical pieces of your childhood come out of your room and be discarded. A passage of time laid out as toys for your sisters. It certainly stirred memories even if my glimpses were brief.

I hope you have a wonderful, full, growing college experience. I just want you to remember a few things:

* Don’t fall in love with the first guy interested in you. Keep your cool.

* Men again – Don’t trust them no matter how cute and charming they are. Have fun with them… definitely! Guys will tell you whatever it is that you want to hear to get their way with you. They’re not bad, it’s just nature.

* Be a friend to make a friend. And, I hope you make lots of good friends. The friends you make at Georgia are people you can have lifelong relationships with.

* Don’t put limitations on yourself. Explore the things that interest you. This is such a unique time of life when you first gain independence from us, your parents, but we are still financially supporting you.

* Be careful about drinking. We’ve discussed it already, but it’s important.

* You still have a room in our home and this is still your home whenever you come back.

Dad and I really did the best we could trying to provide a moral, stable, loving, cohesive home with Catholic values for you and your brother and sisters. I hope we did a good job and that we laid a strong foundation that you will carry for a lifetime.

I am so very proud of you and your accomplishments and am looking forward to hearing about all that is happening with you at Georgia. You’re going to have a blast.

Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2001 09:52:45 -0700 (PDT)

From: “ndcashel” View Contact Details

Subject: hello mom and dad from orientation! 😀

hi mom and dad!! i have a lot of cool stuff to tell

you when i get home. i just finished my class

advising, so i am about to leave.

i signed up for —

honors english 102

honors US history before 1865

spanish

geology

peer advising (the required honors class i told you

about)

14 hours of class, but i only have spanish in the

later afternoons on tuesdays and thursdays, so that is

pretty cool.

and — my advising counselor in the honors office

loved me 🙂 she said that she won’t be advising me

again, but i must stop by and say hello to her!

i am very excited. the honors program is really cool.

i better go now. i am supposed to walk back to brumby

hall to check out at one.

love,

nicole

I strongly support Nicole Cashin’s application for the Harland Scholarship Program; I do so enthusiastically because I had the privilege of watching this young lady mature socially, emotionally and intellectually over the four years I have known her. So often, letters of recommendation suffer from exaggeration and abuse of the superlative; however, let me assure you that Nicole Cashin is no ordinary applicant and deserves very serious consideration.

Nicole first came under my tutelage her Freshman year as a first year Latin student, whereupon she immediately established herself as one of the preeminent members of a particularly strong class. From 1997 until 2000, Nicole preceded from Latin I to Honors II and then Vergil; presently, she is in her fourth year of Latin reading Ovid and Cicero. At every level Nicole has demonstrated excellence and that singular characteristic that drives her: commitment.

At a time when too many young people seem to be disaffected and disconnected, Nicole is very eagerly engaged in whatever she does. She is an indefatigable worker who has a remarkably defined sense of responsibility. Over the years, Nicole has not only performed admirably in Latin class, but she has also energetically supported our Junior Classical League — when Nicole joins a club, it is not to pad her resume. Further, Nicole has participated successfully in the prestigious National Latin Exam where at Levels I, II, and Advanced Poetry she has distinguished herself by earning Maxima cum Laude and Summa cum Laude (Gold Medal) recognition.

A cursory reading of Nicole’s school history suggests excellence in a variety of areas ranging from science and math to Latin and the arts; quite frankly, there seems to be little that is beyond her intellectual reach. However, she has balanced that academic acheivement with a healthy participiation in athletics, community services and her Catholic youth organization activities. And, she does everything with a joy and peace that suggest an emotional and spirtual strength so noticeably absent today.

Nicole is intellectually strong, emotionally sound and morally upright; she will bring honor to your company and your association with her will be mutually advantageous. That is why you should accept Nicole Cashin among the scholarship recipients at Harland.

Respectfully submitted,

R.P. Guarnella, Jr.

I got straight ‘A’s’ on my last report card. We also painted our sign in the neighborhood. It looks really nice.

On April 21, I’m going to go to Six Flags with my class. There is supposed to be this really cool, new roller coaster coming out called The Viper. It goes forwads and backwards.

–NDC

Danny decided to join the chess club at school. He liked the movie “In Search of Bobby Fisher.” He had me teach him how to play. On the first chess club meeting, the boys paired off and played each other.

First Danny played Shawn Kerner, another second-grader. Shawn got mad when Danny moved his King two squares and made his Castle hop over the King. “I’m castling,” Danny told Shawn. Shawn didn’t think there was such a thing. Danny proceeded to take all of Shawn’s men except for his King and then he won. Shawn hit Danny over his head with the chess board (Shawn’s) and it broke the board.

Then Danny played a fifth grader. They played three games and Danny won one of the games.

Nicole made all “A”s except for a “B” in P.E. because she could only do 9 gymnastic moves instead of 10 that it took to get an “A”. Danny made all “A”s.

Nicole has gotten her name and photo in the Journal Constitution for the third time this year. On Christmas day, her second review appeared. In all the rush of Christmas, we didn’t even find out until the end of the day when Ted called Mom & Dad who then called us.

I liked this review better than her first review, but then I think Nicole also liked the software better.

Several people at work saw Nicole’s column. Our director of communications is impressed. He gets quoted in the paper on occasion for Harland, but he never gets his photo in the paper.

Nicole has gotten her name and photo in the Journal Constitution for the third time this year. On Christmas day, her second review appeared. In all the rush of Christmas, we didn’t even find out until the end of the day when Ted called Mom & Dad who then called us.

I liked this review better than her first review, but then I think Nicole also liked the software better.

Several people at work saw Nicole’s column. Our director of communications is impressed. He gets quoted in the paper on occassion for Harland, but he never gets his photo in the paper.

Tonight Danny’s class sponsored a Fathers’ Dessert. Danny and I went to Ms. Wys’s classroom. I got to sit in a small chair.

Ms. Wys read quotes from the kids that described their fathers. The dads were supposed to guess if the description was of them. However, “My dad likes to tickle me. My dad likes steak. My dad snores” are pretty broad clues.

I was one of the few fathers able to guess. My description was “My Dad makes checks and writes checks. He tells jokes and I forget them. He likes to play catch with me.” I won two M&Ms for guessing.

Then there was an awards ceremony. Each kid won a different award. Danny was awarded “Best Imagination.” The two of us were very proud of him as Ms Wys put the medal around his neck and the crowd applauded.

Each kid then prepared his or her dad an ice cream dish with lots of toppings.

I got a tour of the classroom from Danny, and he read me his journal that he had kept the entire year.