The "Under Armor Granddaughter'" Story

My granddaughter, 10-year-old Camille.
Photo by Terri Beach Photography.

It was an ordinary day.  Phone was ringing so I yelled to Carol, "I'll get it."  It was my youngest granddaughter Camille.  She had some news to share with me, "Tampah, we just won first place in our cheerleading competition for the second year in a row!"  Camille was calm as ever while delivering her message.  It was only two weeks ago that she called and said, "Tampah, I just scored five goals in my lacrosse game!"  Camille loves to be involved in just about everything.  Softball, cheerleading, lacrosse, soccer, gymnastics ….. doesn't matter what the activity may be, she loves to be involved and perform to her best.  Well, today she also told me about her recent job as a "fit model" in Baltimore, Maryland.  Seems that one of her best friends, one of a pair of twins, had broken her foot while cheerleading.  The twins had both been asked to be models for Under Armor, an athletic clothing line based in Baltimore.  Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland football player was the founder of the company after engineering athletic shirts that had moisture-wicking performance fibers to help keep athletes cool and dry in hot summer conditions.  Since one of the twins was out of action, the other asked Camille, who happened to be the exact size as the twins, if she would enjoy going with her to model Under Armor's new 2015 line of athletic clothing.  I imagine it probably took no more than half a second for Camille to say yes.  Monday morning arrived and she had no school because of report card sessions at her school.  Her friend's grandmother took the two of them to Baltimore where they arrived at 7:30 am.  They, along with a few other girls of various body sizes, were served breakfast and given the new line of clothing to try on for modeling.  

The Under Armor logo.

She watched as her friend walked the red carpet runway, posing along the way for the buyers who had arrived from all over the country.   Then it was her turn.  I'm sure she was nervous, but after a few seconds she was right at home in her element of performing.  Piece after piece she modeled until it was time to eat lunch.  After lunch the girls were then taken by water taxi to the under Armor Store where they could purchase clothing.  Then it was back to work again.  She told me they worked until 4:00 pm and then returned home.  Stressful day I'm sure, but for Camille it was a day of enjoyment.  And to top that off, she was paid $25 an hour for the pleasure of wearing her favorite clothes.  On Friday of the same week she returned once again to Baltimore to model again.  To some it would be a chore, but for Camille, who probably doesn't own a piece of clothing that doesn't have the Under Armor logo on it, she must have loved it.  She told me that she may have a chance in the Spring to model the next new line of clothing.  I'm sure she has her fingers crossed.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.