When I train new employees, I am often asked what I consider to be our "measure for success". After twenty-four years as a Youth Ranch employee, I have come to see that the success of our work is most evident in the "next generation," the children of our children.

One of the unexpected joys of having been here so long is reading the letters of, and visiting with young parents who, after having grown up at the Ranch, are now raising their own children in "child-centered homes." I have even attended several high school graduations of our "grandchildren", and seen the beautiful proud faces of their parents, parents who had so much to overcome as children, but have now broken the cycle of abuse by raising their own children with love and respect.

We get calls and emails when our children's children make the teams they try out for, when new children are born and others graduate from high school or middle school. Or when prayers are needed for times of trials and illnesses. Then there are the calls of excitement and gratitude when health is restored and trials have passed. We get pictures of the children in their soccer uniforms and "princess crowns." And pictures of family vacations, like when Cathy and her husband took their children to Disney World, or when Seantel traveled with her family from their home in the Netherlands to Texas to visit her Youth Ranch family.

Jenn's daughter, Jenni, is very artistic and talented. We opened an email recently with a picture of her holding a blue ribbon she won in an art show . . . then, just last month, a photo of her with her prize-winning Arbor Day poster.

These children are loved, and their wonderful parents would never hurt them the way they were hurt as children. These are children who are treasured the way children should be. You can see the confidence in their young faces. If that's not success, then I don't know what is.

And this year we have a first. Years ago when I came to the Youth Ranch in the summer of 1985, I was houseparent for eight girls, one of them being Ruth Ann Evans. I have kept in touch with Ruth Ann (now Ruth Ann Hazelett) through the years, as we both married and had children, and grew through the years of joy, tragedies, and challenges that life brings. I have been so proud of the strength, faith and grace with which Ruth Ann has handled those challenges, and recovered from the tragedies. Now, in November, Ruth Ann's daughter, Tasha, is planning her wedding . She will be married at the Youth Ranch chapel, a very special place to me because of the many hours I spent designing and painting the stained glass windows there. Gary will perform the ceremony, and he and I will be there beside Ruth Ann and her family, as proud as any grandparents can be.

I regret space will not permit me to include all the photos that we have of our children and their children, but I do hope you will enjoy seeing a few pages from our "brag book" . . .