I remember the grief of having to choose one essay over the other, and I may have flipped a coin. From that year forward, I have always awarded two diamonds in the contest. There is now a winner in an elementary grade category and also a winner from middle to high school.
I suppose now is always better than later, and I would hereby like to give credit, eighteen years later, to Lauren O’Hara’s timeless contribution for her mother. I hope Lauren and her mother will be able to read this once again. Your words will live forever.
A diamond and my mother
Are two of the same
Diamonds all around her
Sparkle in her nameFor never has there been
A dark and starless night
For with the shining
Of my mother’s eyes
From darkness comes lightDew on morning rose
Diamonds in the sky
Kind words when a new day starts
All these things I see in her
The diamond of my heartLauren O’Hara
Grade 9. 1995 Sapphire Winner