Mckenzie Meyer, ready to unleash sweet sounds. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Her future’s so bright, she has to wear shades.
The absolute master of the positive approach.
She was just born talented.
I have known Mckenzie Meyer since the day she popped in to the world, the first of two children born to Sarah and Frank Meyer.
That was back in the lazy, hazy glory days of being paid to watch movies (and do a little managerial work) at Videoville, a 12-year run in which I worked for Mckenzie’s grandmother, Miriam.
The newest Meyer made her video store debut at a very young age, and from the first moment she eyeballed all of us from her perch on the counter, she radiated intelligence.
And I don’t mean she just seemed smart.
I mean she seemed like she was going to cure a disease while solving world hunger while also teaching herself to read Mandarin in the two minutes of free time she had every day.
It’s a feeling which has increased every day since.
Mckenzie is too smart, and too talented, and too awe-inspiring, for one small town on a rock in the middle of the water in the Pacific Northwest to contain, but we here in Coupeville have benefited immensely from what time we have had her here.
Today, I’m inducting her into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
In the moment, that’s something (maybe not epic, but worthy of a nod at least), being enshrined inside these hallowed digital walls.
After this, you’ll find her up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.
And, about two seconds after she lands up there, she’ll probably win a much-bigger, much-better award or three.
I feel fully confident that in a few years or so, being in my little, sorta fake Hall o’ Fame should still be at least the 245th biggest thing she’s done. Maybe…
Mckenzie, as much as any high school athlete or student I have seen come through Cow Town, is fated to be big. Like world famous big.
She has a personality which is a mixture of joy and wonderment, and she charges full-tilt at any and every obstacle or opportunity with a grin which wraps up the whole world in a hug.
Give her a sport, any sport, and she did well.
In cheer, she was a volcano erupting, showering everyone with school spirit. A captain who was the loudest, the proudest, and the first to pick up her teammates, those she was cheering for, and the fans.
It could be an epic win or a crushing defeat, and Mckenzie tackled things with the same glee, the same desire to make every performance the best she ever delivered.
And if lil’ bro Caleb was playing? Miss Meyer could turn the sound system up to 120, thank you very much.
Her spirit and never-say-die attitude carried over to her time on the soccer pitch, the tennis court, and the world of track and field, where she competed in a gazillion events, including holding the school record in the pole vault.
Sports, though, are but a small sliver of what makes Mckenzie the whirlwind she is.
She was a veteran of the stage, bouncing from comedy to drama as an award-worthy thespian.
A woman born to wail when you put a sax in her hand and fired up the band.
Toss her into the cutthroat world of Science Olympiad? She made Einstein sit up in his grave, just so he could bow in appreciation of her skill.
Look, I’m not impartial here.
I think Mckenzie is one of the most talented, kind, brilliant people on the face of this planet.
Seeing her grow up, holding on to the fire that burns brightly inside, while always challenging herself and achieving remarkable things, has been great.
I think the world of this young woman. Did when she was a few days old, did when she first went to school, do today, and will many years down the road.
There’s a ton of reasons to induct Mckenzie into my Hall o’ Fame.
The biggest one? She classes up the joint.
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