I first met Katie, a darling tiny red headed baby, when Julia, her mom, brought her down to Mexico during one of the many projects that I ran down there. That was just the first day that I fell in love with the tiny girl. She has been an off and on presence in my life ever since. Off and on, because that is the nature of being a sort of uncle to a girl as she grows up. 

Her dad, Rob, and I have remained good friends and I see him almost every week. He comes and goes at my house, and has a key to get in if I am not there. I always stop in at his house, up in North Austin, if I am up that way on a job or errand.

Rob, though it makes him embarrassed when I say it, is the best dad that I have ever known. Absolutely. He has taken his role of parent seriously, and has done an excellent job with Katie, and her little sister Mariya as well. I have never had kids of my own, but if I were to, I would want to be a dad like Rob has been.

Katie came along with her mom and dad on several of the Mexico Projects, and each time, she was a little bigger and more mobile. Eventually school and activities became the focus of her life, and she didn’t come on projects any more. But when I would go by Robs house, I would find her riding their old gray horse, Merlin, that they had, around the big backyard. From an early age, she was involved with animals. Ducks, chickens, turkeys, cats, dogs, there were always some animals of one sort or another around.

I always tried to support her in her interests. At some point, she started drawing and painting, and I ordered stuff from Amazon, like paints and brushes and drawing pencils, and sketch pads. I always encourage girls who can be artistic to follow that, because we, Americans, don’t appreciate what a terrific talent art is.

Eventually, Katie went to college, where she majored in Animal Studies. She seemed particularly interested in animal / human communication. In her third year, she did a study abroad, in Kenya, working on sustainability of wild animal preserves. I made sure that she had some art tablets and colored pencils to take with her, and she sent me photos of things she sketched there.

When she got home from that, I had her over for dinner, to hear her stories about Africa. After dinner, we sat on my porch swapping stories. While we were talking, she had a tablet on her lap, and it looked like she was taking notes, which made me curious. After a couple of hours of storytelling, she got up to go, and presented me with a pencil sketch of me while we had been sitting there. Which I immediately framed and put up on my art wall in my living room, alongside the other art she had created, which I had also framed and displayed. Amazing talent.

During college, she had a summer job at a Lemur preserve there in Florida. She seemed to really enjoy that job, and enjoy working with the Lemurs.

Towards the end of her final year, she applied for, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, to go to Peru, and study river otters on the Amazon. She was the first person that I personally knew that got a Fulbright.

A couple weeks ago, she flew, bussed, and boated into the jungle in Peru, where she is currently watching river otters and counting caiman. She has set up a whatsapp group on which she posts stories and photos of her adventures there. They make me laugh. She is becoming an ok writer, and seems to be really enjoying her studies there.

I have encouraged her to take a couple years and do the Peace Corps, which I really support, because Peace Corps teaches you who you are and can be. Among other things. But, like everything, it is up to her. I think she would bring a lot of good things to the Peace Corps table.

I am so proud of her for becoming the great person that she is. Not that I really had that much to do with it, but she amazes me all the time.