We, Together, Should Be So Proud

Today, my oldest daughter Emillia is graduating from high school.
A comment I have heard throughout Emillia’s life is – “you must be so proud.”
The word “proud” has never felt quite right to me.
I felt like saying the word “proud” meant that it was about me.
Like I was responsible for her achievements.

I have felt like my job, as Emillia’s mother, has been to help her navigate her life.
To help her stay on course and provide bumper guards
like when you go to the bowling alley and the staff puts those large inflatable balloons in the gutters for the newbie bowlers to keep the ballf on course and moving toward the pins.
I feel like that…
I feel I have helped Emillia stay on course.
I helped nurture the person that she was destined to be.

It wasn’t until I looked up the definition of proud that I was able to hear that comment and fully embrace it.
To be proud or to have pride is defined as:
feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one’s own achievements, qualities, or possessions
or those of someone with whom one is closely associated.

The first collection of Nunn Design Findings released when I was pregnant with Emillia.
I did this so that I could live a lifestyle that would allow me to be home with her.
I did it so that I would have the freedom and flexibility to live a creative life.

Thank you for helping Brett and I raise this amazing human being by choosing to create with Nunn Design Findings.
Thank you for supporting me as a mother, designer, teacher and business owner.
Thank you for helping me to live a life of creativity filled with meaning and a great sense of purpose.
A life centered around family and values that I hold dear.

We, as a community of makers, have so very much to be proud of.
Thank you.