This past week I was able to sit in the parking lot of the high school I went to and as I sat in my car and hung out with two of my best friend’s, all I could think about was the girl that used to walk the hall inside. The girl that spent SO MANY HOURS in that school and the parking lot we were in. She seems like a shadow now. I thought about some of my favorite memories in that building. The friendships that helped me get through some of the hardest days of my life. The grief I overcame with my kiddos. The teachers/coaches that have changed me for the rest of my life. I also looked back on some of the hard memories. Some of the failures I experienced. Some of the situations I put myself in. The times where I didn’t feel like I was enough. The times I suppressed the way I was feeling to make some of my friends happy. Moments where I didn’t stand up for my friends in the way I should have. I didn’t want to make a scene. I didn’t want to make people uncomfortable. It’s crazy. The amount of things that can change in a year. The amount that you can change in a year. I finish my first year of college this week, and the girl that walked those halls has learned so much about herself and what she believes in. I truly believe now more than I ever have in my life that the people that are meant to be in your life will be. We are meant to meet certain people for a reason, and friendships that help you heal in ways you never thought were possible, are in fact possible. You deserve those friendships. It’s also been a year of reconnecting with some old friendships and I have loved experiencing some of the oldest friendships in my life come full circle. So to all the incredible people I have got to spend time with this year, thank you.

Thank you for making the girl that walked those halls know that she is worth so much more than some of the friendships she experienced. That she NEVER has to suppress the way she is feeling to make her true friends love her. And appreciate her. And cheer her on every single day. Because they will. For the right reasons. And that is truly more than I could have ever asked for. 

With all my love,

Nicky.