When asked to describe Tina Kennard anyone who truly knew her would automatically state that she was the quintessential “free spirit”. Tina quite literally marched to her own drummer and at times seemed oblivious to the social mores of those around her. She had her own carefree sense of style which favored comfort over fashion but even with these eccentricities she was noticeably beautiful. She exuded the confidence of someone who is completely comfortable in her own skin and people were drawn to her because of it. Tina’s easy smile always reached her eyes and instantly put others at ease. She had a way of making people feel good about themselves just by being around her.
     Most people would have been surprised to know that Tina had been painfully shy and often lonely as child and into her teens. Her father was in the military and it seemed every time she would get settled into a new school she would be uprooted; leaving very little opportunity for her to develop meaningful friendships. In the early years Tina had been the dutiful daughter; never complaining though she cried many lonely tears at night. She learned to keep to herself as she knew that developing friendships would only make it that much harder to leave when she had to move again. However, once puberty struck Tina was transformed. She had always been described as a “cute” child but as her body blossomed into young womanhood she was nothing short of breathtaking and it was not lost on those around her. She grew accustomed to the head turning effect she seemed to have wherever she went.
     Tina was often bothered by the fact that people seemed to only be interested in her for her physical attributes. However, the attention garnered from her appearance gave her a sense of confidence she had lacked in childhood. Much to her father’s chagrin, Tina’s newfound confidence and charisma often lead her to rail against what she perceived to be the world’s injustices. During her freshman year of high school Tina had initiated a student protest when she discovered that the school board was planning to fire the band teacher due to rumors regarding his sexual orientation. At that point Tina had given very little thought to her own sexual orientation, however she just felt strongly that sexuality wasn’t a justifiable reason for dismissal from any job. Mr. Carver was a great teacher and very popular with the students so it didn’t take much for Tina to enlist others to rally in support of him. As the most vocal protestor and the perceived leader of the group Tina was suspended from school and developed the reputation at that particular school as a rebel rouser. Mr. Kennard was very disappointed that Tina lacked the discipline that he demanded from his soldiers and expected from his daughter. However, the knowledge that she had bucked the repressive expectations of her military minded father only seemed to encourage Tina to seek out her next worthy cause.
     By the time Tina graduated from high school she was ready to set the world on fire. In those four short years she had attended 9 schools which left her without ample time to develop friendships, let alone relationships. Her mother was and always had been her best friend. For the most part, Mr. Kennard was a distant member of their family; always more focused on his job than his family. His absence seemed to bring Tina and her mother even closer than most mothers and daughters. Mrs. Kennard was secretly thrilled with Tina’s social and environmental consciousness and she took pride in watching her daughter develop into such a confident, outspoken young woman. She would never have let her husband know of her true feelings but Tina was always aware of her mothers unfailing support. However, there were times that Tina longed for someone her own age that she could confide in and share experiences with.
     During these lonely times her guitar became her constant companion.   Initially Tina began plucking out songs that she enjoyed listening to on the radio but as her playing became more proficient she began composing her own music. The songs just came to her; she really couldn’t explain it. She sometimes felt as though angels whispered the melodies in her ear as she clumsily strummed her guitar. Her guitar became her solace when the world had her down. That was never more true than the summer after she graduated from high school.
     Tina had been accepted at the University of California – Berkley and planned on attending in the fall. However exactly one month after she graduated her father had a massive heart attack and died while jogging with a group of new recruits on the base. Mr. Kennard’s death had come as a complete shock to both Tina and her mother as he had always been in excellent health and kept himself very fit as a career military man. Tina found herself wallowing in guilt and despair; blaming herself for causing her father undue hardship and concern with her rebellious antics. Her guilt was compounded by the fact that with his death came a sense of relief. Mr. Kennard had always been exceeding selfish and controlling and never considered the effect that moving twice a year to advance his career would have on his wife or daughter. Just as Tina was about to escape to pursue her own life, her father up and died leaving her to feel guilty about leaving her mother all alone. Tina simply didn’t have it in her to walk away and leave her mother to grieve alone. She knew her mom would never ask her to stay so she secretly deferred her acceptance to Berkley for a year and planned to stay with her mom to help her through this difficult time.
     Tina was in complete shock when her mother announced to her two weeks after her father’s death that she would be leaving their current home in Texas and moving to Nevada once Tina left for Berkley. She went on to explain that she had fallen in love with another man several years ago and had planned on leaving her father once Tina left for college. The fact that Mr. Kennard had died unexpectedly was unfortunate but it only made the situation less complicated than it would otherwise have been. Tina was surprised but also relieved. She had loved her father because he was her father but she never really felt close to him. She often felt he made cameo appearances in her life, particularly when she got involved in something that he believed warranted his intervention/discipline. Tina often wondered if her mother was happy with her dad as she really just didn’t see the attraction. Her mom was an incredible woman and quite frankly she didn’t believe her father was worthy of her. She would take comfort in knowing that her mom would be happy in her new relationship and that she wasn’t alone. Tina couldn’t blame her mother for falling in love with someone else and she made up her mind that she would be happy for her.
     By the time Tina contacted Berkley to see if a spot was still available for her in the fall it was already too late. The registrar informed her that the enrollment was full for the upcoming term but that they had already reserved a spot for her for next year. Tina had deferred her enrollment without discussing it with her mother. After a few sleepless nights she made the decision that she did not want to stand in the way of her mother’s plans to move to Nevada and pursue her happiness. The following week she planned to leave just as she had originally planned , allowing her mom to believe she was heading off to college. At the time Tina wasn’t sure where she was going but she knew it was going to be an adventure and she welcomed it.