Running in the wind, in the pollen and dust, a flower in flight

As Buckingham talked, I couldn't help but remember that there's a reason they call us Gallagher Girls. It's not just because the youngest of us are twelve. It's also because our founder was under twenty. From the very beginning we have been discounted and discredited, underestimated and undervalued. And, for the most part, we wouldn't have it any other way.

We don't have girls development programs so we don't have youth coming in. We find girls in speed skating and here and there. You don't play since they're 3. They play since they're 15.

It felt like being a child again, though it was not. Being a child is like nothing. It's only being. Later, when we think about it, we make it into youth.

Will the freshness, lightheartedness, the need for love, and strength of faith which you have in childhood ever return? What better time than when the two best virtues -- innocent joy and the boundless desire for love -- were the only motives in life?

Our camp was very encouraging. Annie (Pickford) is running as well as ever, but other girls are closing the gap. The league will be very strong, but I think we can compete with any team in it.