A girl I knew from high school (our class valedictorian actually – back when elite was good), popped up on my one of my social networks recently. I’ve found a few friends and acquaintances online and have always been excited to see what has happened to people I remember.
After high school, I went through various psuedo-creative employs. I had dismissed architecture in college and had chickened-out of auditioning to music school. I eventually settled into a reasonably satisfying career of software development. It wasn’t until the last decade that I’ve given a real effort toward something truly creative (re: this photography career).

This evening I was going through a box of stuff in my closet (so I could try and throw stuff out, in order to make room for some photography equipment) and I came upon our Valedictorian’s picture amongst some other images from high school. As I pondered what makes me keep this kind of stuff (I’m a closet historian?), I saw that on the back of her picture, she had written:

“I really admire your creativity. Don’t ever let school or careers steal from your natural talents. (A cat in gloves catches no mice.)”

I was speechless.