Dear Sadie,

Thursday, September 17, 2009

It has been said that to know where you are going in life, you have to know where you have been. I know where you have been and you know where you are going.

You used to listen to Ani Difranco on a daily basis and tried to earn money every chance you got. You indulged yourself in ice cream too frequent, snuggled with your mommy and loved your daddy more than air. You drove too fast, texted too often and were quick to forget. You stood strong in what you believed, even when you weren’t quite sure what it was. And at the end of the year, you ran with your diploma.

You have loved the world until it wore you out, trusted the ground after you tripped and forgave the sky whenever it rained. Your heart was never on your sleeve, more like tucked under your socks in the security of your shoe. You have stepped lightly as you walked daily through your past. The present was like movie, you had no control over the monster that would jump out from behind the door. This girl at seventeen, hopefully you still remember, too often left the house without her shoes on.

Now you are older and wiser, as long as you haven’t forgotten. The older you get, the more you realized how you need the people you knew when you were young. I hope you have fallen in love, by choice, not by gravity. Every step you took was precisely planned out, but when you had no place to walk, you jumped. You listen to Ani Difranco on a daily basis and eat organic produce only. You are shaped by the life you had once but no longer carry around your mold.

You don’t give up on your dreams, even when you can’t fall asleep. You call your mother just to let her know your flavor of ice cream and blow kisses to your daddy. Your best friends have become your foundation and courage and your sister has become your best friend. You questions the stars and sunsets make you cry.  Life hasn’t held you back or moved on without you, you are holding tightly to the reigns. You are a woman who is conquering the world, but rarely go outside with your shoes on.

Love, Sadie

Sequence, studying & Self-reliance

I kept waiting for the inspirational moment in which I would have a great realization about college life and my newfound independence. At that opportune moment, I would whip out my Macbook and blog about it while sounding educated and well-rounded as I sip coffee in a hip cafe. I’m almost a month in and I have had many small realizations, most of which are not blog worthy. But for $339/credit hour this is what I have come to realize:

People think you are much cooler than you are when you have a guitar in your room.

Roommates will steal your food. The next morning, you will steal their headphones.

You don’t have to wear sequence and leggings. Most nights, youprobably shouldn’t.

On Friday mornings you have to yell louder than the alarm to make sure she gets up for her 8 o’clock test.

It’s never “nothing” when she stays the night in his dorm five out of seven days of the week.

We have half the same genetic makeup as a banana.

Being a football player is not a personality trait.

Suddenly, you are remorseful of the years your sister spent telling you to keep your things on your side of the room. Karma is a bitch.

Studying is essential. Making sure you study the correct chapter is even more important.

Boys know how to make you feel special to them. The trick is remembering that you are too special for them.

Staying up until two and waking a few hours later is suddenly acceptable.

Smoke breaks are a good time for socializing… and telling your roommate that your dad died from cancer.

Eye contact makes you new friends; so does remembering their name.

Your mother’s voice makes everything ok.