In the past week, I have been gratified to receive several pieces of good news. I swear that it is weeks like this one that keep me going.

I have written a couple of times about a young man named Darius who I met through this blog. My friend Maurice stepped up big time and has become a great friend and ally to Darius.

Darius’s grades have steadily improved since last year and he e-mailed to share that he will be graduating from the 10th grade with honors in June. He adds in his note: “Share the good news with the people, Ms. K.” So Darius, I am sharing the good news with the people. In addition, it appears that Maurice is rubbing off on Darius since he has been accepted into a prestigious pre-engineering summer program for young black men. As I type these words, I am grinning ear to ear. I am really proud of Darius and I have faith that he will be a success in whatever he chooses to pursue in life. Congratulations, D! Can’t wait to see what’s next…

I’ve been working with another young man for the past few months. He is my hero for all that he has had to overcome. This week he called to tell me that he successfully passed his GED exam. I feel like it is a Masters degree. He will enroll in a local community college this summer. He is on his way…

A young woman, who I have known since she was 14 when she joined a group for young women in my community that I started, is graduating from college in a couple of weeks. I couldn’t be prouder of the young woman that she has grown into. She has never let her circumstances define her and she is now headed off to graduate school.

Finally, two other young people have received great news this week. One learned that he is a Gates Scholar and the other has won a full scholarship to Harvard. Both of these young people are my inspirations. They are activists and leaders. I am privileged to know them. They have both said such kind things to me about my influence in their lives. The truth is though that I am better for having them in mine.

Weeks like this one don’t come around often enough. But when they do, it’s worth taking a step back, taking a deep breath, and giving thanks to the universe. Bad things happened this week too, of course. But for today, I won’t dwell on them. I choose to focus instead on the good. It was a good week.

I dedicate this to all of the young people in my life (from my first love):