I have touched on this before and it's a bit rough even now. The hardest thing I've ever had to do was to say goodbye to my beautiful daughter, Gayle. I've had to adjust my thinking at times to help my deal with it and recognize the fact that God had blessed and honored me by giving her to me. You see I was told by doctors at the age of 19 that motherhood was something I would not experience. I suffer from ovarian cysts and they ruptured on me. According to the doctors the scarring would prevent me from ever becoming pregnant and I should just have a hysterectomy. I wasn't going to have anything to do with that at such a young age.

Three years later I was holding in my arms a little miracle. I took my responsibility very seriously to provide for her nurture her and raise her to be the best she could be. She was had a creative streak just like me. Her talent ran towards dance. She decided she wanted to take ballet and my mother and I set about making it happen for her. We became the "janitorial staff" in exchange for her lessons. She showed such great potential that she was soon attending class on scholarship. She became an apprentice member of the ballet and moved up to company dancer at the age of 14. One of my fondest memories is of watching her dance the lead in "Chinese" from the Nutcracker three years in a row.

When she reached middle school she decided to add the school dance team to her activities. Gayle and her teammates traveled to Tallahassee to be a part of the UDA Dance Camp. They were the only middle school represented and they made us all proud bringing home the blue ribbon in several categories. Thanks to their win they were part of the UDA Dance Team during the halftime show at the 1999 Citrus bowl in Orlando.

She also gave back to the community as a Sheriff's Explorer. She tried it but it wasn't for her so she found other ways to give back. As a high-school Freshman she volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club as an after school tutor. In her Sophomore year, she volunteered with an adult day services program as a ballet teacher. She enjoyed that most of all and her students loved her. She even choreographed a dance for them to perform for family members and staff. She showed true sensitivity and caring in choreographing it so everyone could take part no matter what their particular challenge was.

She graduated from Collegiate high school with both her High School Diploma and her Associates Degree. On August 3, 2005 a car accident ended her life too soon. Friends family and co-workers were very supportive during that time. But her name will not be forgotten. The Northwest Florida Ballet insured she will be remembered by starting The Gayle Baumgartner Memorial Scholarship in her honor. Every year deserving and talented dancers will be able to study dance and each one is a testament to her. I'm sure somewhere up in heaven she's looking down and smiling at the joy these children experience by having the world of dance opened up to them.