As you know, my father, sister-in-law, and two of my beautiful nieces were present at our graduation. One of the two, Marissa, first came into our family as a foster child at the age of 12. She had been in and out of homes for over 10 years. From day one she called me Uncle Jeremy and it was clear that she needed only one thing in her life at that moment to survive - love. I always have treated her no different than any of my other nieces who are my direct relatives. She never really had had a solid home with people she can trust and true love in the household. After a long process, she and her sister Demetra (who was not able to make it to our ceremony) were legally adopted by my brother and his wife on November 19, 2005, one day after my 29th birthday.

After our graduation ceremony, my sister-in-law invited me to their house for a salmon dinner. When I arrived Marissa gave me a hand-made card. On the front she drew a giant star with a smaller star inside of it, a smaller star inside that one, and a final tiny star inside that one. On the back was a giant heart with the words:

"I Love
You
So
Much"

written inside of it. she wrote underneath it, "Illustrated by: Marissa Rickles". This was all very colorful. So I open it and on the left flap it said,

"JEREMY

WE

LOVE

YOU".

On the right flap it reads...

"We are so proud
of you and your
new leadership.
You have changed
for the best.

Love,
The Rickles girls"

I thanked her, hugged her, and asked her if she made this all on her own and she said she did. So we all ate our dinner, my father and my sister-in-law (who I will refer to from this point as my sister) sat with me at the table while the Rickles girls sat on the couch and watched TV.

After some conversation about the things I had learned my sister said to me that after I gave my last speech I which I thanked Nugget Market, you (my teammates and friends), and my family, Marissa told her mother, "I'm shocked! He's changed!" Upon hearing this I paused in our conversation and asked Marissa to come to the table.

I asked her, "your mother said you told her you were shocked. Why were you shocked?" She said, "Because you were a whole different person!" Then I told her about the 11 cards I received from my co-workers before I went to Empower U. I went into detail about some of the contents of these cards. Words of inspiration, support, and kindness. Then I turned to her and said, "I could have one hundred of those cards from my co-workers, but in total they could never mean as much to me as the one you gave me tonight."

We both broke into massive tears and she wrapped herself around my neck so tightly I thought I would choke! I whispered in her ear something that I know she and I will never forget. I said, "Marissa, you became a part of my family the second you walked through our doors and I love you more than anything. I didn't know how much that meant to me up until now." If I went through Empower U just for that one moment, it held the worth of the universe to me.

So who is this story about? Think about it. My niece? Me? My dinner with my family? Maybe about the card itself that held so much meaning? No.

It is story is about the 18 strangers who came together as a team to make that moment possible. I made things happen for myself that week. I chose to give one hundred percent. Me. I did it. But I could not have done it without the love, support, kindness, dedication, emotion, passion, and commitment that you all shared with me.

So, Team 454. Our motto is We Want More. I now have more and I will continue to have more thanks to all of you. With passion I say to you very simply, "Thank You."