ABBY'S STORY

309794 S.O.S. Help Abby Sunderland, all boaters ALERT ! (Internet), originally uploaded by godisinusall (unfocused ).

Abby Sunderland

At Girls in the Hall, we are constantly doing research about all things that apply to being a teen girl. Therefore, we were fascinated by the 20/20 show last Friday, which profiled teens with ambitious goals and asked the question, "How young is too young?" There was the teen who, with parental permission, risked his life climbing Mount Everest last year on a quest to be the youngest hiker to see the world from the the highest peak on each continent. And so on. The story that touched me most that night was the dream of Abby Sunderland to be one of the youngest to sail across the world by herself. At 16, she embarked on her journey hoping to edge out a girl very close to her in age in Australia who had already started the journey. Abby's interview was fused with contagious passion for the art of sailing, something she had done since she was tiny. I was torn between admiration for Abby's determination and enthusiasm, but scared for her with the risk she was going to undertake. Regardless, her courage, determination and warm smile were infectious when watching the interview. Her parents in the interview clearly loved and cherished their little girl, but I couldn't understand how they would let her go thousands of miles into the fire of the ocean on a small boat. Over the past few days, I have been playing ping-pong in my head with this conundrum, trying to figure out my stance. Are quests like these noble aspirations to be granted permission by parents, or are they allowing teens to masquerade as adults in a world of dangerous cotton candy dreams?


This entry was going to be all about not letting your age as a teen get in the way of dreams, but also knowing when waiting is better. Originally, I wanted to take the question straight to you--how young do you think is too young?


Then, a friend I had been talking about this topic with sent me an article this afternoon. I sat at my computer, tearing up. A wave of shock and nausea overcame my core. The news broke today that Abby Sunderland is missing at sea. As of this evening, the signal from her boat indicates that it is drifting with no word from Abby. I am going to now channel my thoughts and energy to be one of the millions who will be hoping for her safe return to her family on solid ground, and hope that in my shifting on the thoughts of this blog, you will be moved to do the same. She is one of us.


For updates on Abby Sunderland, click here for CNN's Blog.