Our Biggest Day Yet

Well since I seem to only post significant events in our lives, I guess this one qualifies! Yesterday Ron (& family) graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry! I remember sitting our family down a little over 4 years ago and telling them that we had a couple of choices. As Ron put it...we can do this thing or we can't! We told the kids that in order for this opportunity to work we were all gonna have to work together. It was gonna mean we sacrificed some things along the way and possibly went without some of the things we had grown accustomed to. It was gonna mean a whole new way of living for us. Ron would be gone A LOT! Money would be tight, but in the end it would be the best thing for our family. We all agreed that it was what we wanted and the adventure began. Now at the end of our adventure it hardly seems possible that we were able to do it. We have truly been blessed along the way. Our children didn't go without many if any things, we didn't have to eat beans & rice....although we have aquired a taste for Ramen Noodles along the way, and as a family we have learned that together we can do anything we set our minds to. We are so proud of Ron...because no matter how much we had to endure, it was ultimately him who worked the hardest and never gave up. He put nearly 158,000 miles on his car. That's 6 times around the earth at the equator. I could hardly believe it when he put it that way. It wasn't easy for any of us, but atleast the kids and I had each other. Ron was alone in his apartment in OKC for much of the time. The very first summer when he started Dental School we celebrated Haleigh's b-day in OKC at his apartment. He decorated it with Barbie streamers and balloons and surprised her with a Barbie cake. The whole time he was there, the balloons and streamers never came down and it wasn't until last week when we cleaned out the apartment and turned in the keys did the party decorations come down. He missed us as much as we missed him. I recently came across the quote at the top of the page "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving a new one," by Dolly Parton. This describes Ronnie better than anything I could have come up with. It's not often that a nearly 40 year old has the courage to change his whole outlook and pursue a dream to benefit those he loves. He was the oldest one in his class of 60 students. The youngest in his class was born the year Ron graduated high school. He has certainly paved a new road for our family and we will never be the same because of it. He is our HERO whether he believes it or not. Yesterday was our biggest and best day yet.... with many more to come. Great job Dad- WE LOVE YOU!

After 4 long years... Dr. Ron Campbell, D.D. S.

He also received an acheivement award from the American Association of Endodontists for remarkable skill in the area of endodontics. (He's really good at root canals!)

We celebrated our 20th anniversary a couple of weeks ago, but I have never been so proud as I was of Ronnie yesterday!

We can do anything!

We were grateful to have Rick & Robin share this special day with us.