Seven graduates ... no graduations! Erin Jade Schnabel

Pictures on the left (top and bottom) are of Erin's high school!

Perhaps no one in the Sappington family has ever had the high school experience Erin Jade Schnabel, youngest of Kris Sappington Schnabel's three children, has had.  She calls the last few year's "a crazy ride, uphill both ways, never boring and never dull."  

Nevertheless, she was scheduled to end her secondary schooling at Cardinal Newman High School, a Catholic school in Santa Rosa, CA, in commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 30, 2020.  However, since the world was in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, it didn't happen for EJ or millions of other seniors around the country, robbed of this final high school experience by a microscopic virus.

Still, her years as a Cardinal at CNHS and the degree she has earned were filled with favorite - and a few not-so-happy - memories beginning in her sophomore year. In mid-October 2017, her school along with just about all of central California burned to the ground. Over a few days and weeks more than 56,556 acres burned.  Approximately 12,000 structures were damaged or completely destroyed, including 5130 homes, and 4000 commercial buildings.  Also part of these grim statistics were the loss of 3200 cars, 111 boats and the death of 23 residents.  Total expense for what is being called “the costliest fire in California history" (to date), is $2.79 billion.  

Erin attended her first homecoming dance on the Saturday night before the fire began, but on Monday morning woke to find her high school, as well as her elementary school, in a pile of ashes. 

As a junior she attended a new school where she didn't know many of her classmates and where she - for the 1st time in her school life - was expected to wear a uniform.  Also as a junior, she set records for home runs and runs-batted-in (RBI) on the softball field, a skill she hopes will translate into a way to pay for her college education.  As a senior she was able to attend a class retreat where - like camping out - she was able to enjoy her new classmates who had now become her friends and team mates.

Erin's future plans have a laser-focus on earning a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University where she hopes to study business economics then go to graduate school for a law degree with a goal to become a corporate lawyer and eventually have a family.

This darling and talented California blond has a bright future ahead of her.  We are more than proud of her for achieving this milestone.

As your grandmother, I pray you will always believe in yourself as much as I believe in you.  I can't promise to be here for the rest of your life, but I can promise to love you for my time on earth and through all eternity!