When reading the summary of this year's selections of the area's most
remarkable young people, I became somewhat disappointed and frustrated.
My son, Michael Gracia, is 10 years old. We live in Costa Mesa and he
attends Mariners Elementary School in the fourth grade.
He was born with cerebral palsy and is permanently blind in his right
eye. He also has serious asthma. He had to undergo two eye surgeries last
summer. He has many doctor appointments throughout the year. He wears a
leg brace to school every day. On occasion, he has had to wear an eye
patch to school. With all of these restraints that he has to address each
and every day of his life, within his short lifetime, he has accomplished
many of the same attributes as the majority of the young people mentioned
in your article. However, he has accomplished so much more as he has
succeeded with his many detriments.
Many of his accomplishments are:
* Received his black belt designation in Tae Kwon Do
* Received an award in school for his mathematics skills and creative
writing skills last month
* Actively completes in the area's baseball leagues and soccer leagues.
This year, he was one of the main pitchers for his baseball team
* Has actively snowboarded for the past three seasons
* Actively attends church and sings in choir
* Maintains above-average grades in all categories
* He is very well liked by his peers
* Plays a great game of golf
nother frustrating point about all of this is that my mom contacted the
Daily Pilot on two occasions in 1999 after Michael received his black
belt designation. She felt his accomplishment, given his issues, was
worthy of notice by his community paper. No one returned her calls.
I feel he is a real hero to have the heart and soul that he has, given
his circumstances. He lives his life much fuller than many children with
no deficiencies.
For the reasons listed above, I feel he should have been included in your
recently published list, as he truly is "remarkable."
JILL GRACIA
Costa Mesa
Your special edition of the Junior Top 103 was very interesting, but
seemed to miss a few very excellent high school students who were not
seniors. Here is one of many of these people.
Kristin Michelle Maberry, 16, is a junior at Newport Harbor High School.
As a member of Newport-Mesa's 1998 and 1999 Junior Top 103, Kristin
continues to be a very special young woman who quietly influences her
community, school, church and peers in many ways. She is a very positive
