Thursday, September 16, 2010

Class of 2031

Dear Hayley,

This week Stanford welcomed the Class of 2014 to campus. For you, this meant mama hasn't been around a whole lot. I'm so sorry I've been gone so much. I'd love nothing more than to have been home for dinner and evening playtime this week. I hope you know I've missed you terribly and I couldn't help but think about you and our family all week.

Last year was the first time I was so involved in New Student Orientation and you were only 6 months old. This year you are 18 months and although I knew what to expect when going from event to event this week, I wasn't prepared to be so personally moved by the process. On Tuesday, as I watched teary eyed parents beam with pride as they moved their son or daughter in to their freshman dorm, I couldn't help but think of you and where we will be in 17 years. As I watched a crowd of highly intelligent and motivated students happily fill the Main Quad for Convocation, I couldn't help but think of you. And while I sat in my golf cart watching 1700 freshmen join the LSJUMB on Band Run in the middle of the night, I, again, thought of you.

As you grow older and continue to grow and learn (at an alarming rate) it becomes more and more apparent that we are raising an actual person that will become an adult and we have such a huge responsibility in shaping the woman you'll become. I watch you now, so amazingly smart, beautiful, funny, inquisitive, caring and happy and want to ensure you carry these traits with you always. I want to encourage you to work hard, take risks and try new things. I want to empower you to know who you are and what you stand for. I want to raise a daughter who knows her parents adore her and will always have her back, affording her the confidence to go out and do great things. I want to create a relationship that reassures me, when the time comes for your dad and I to move you in to your freshmen dorm and as you distance yourself from your parents, our friendship will keep us close.

I can't help but see you in everything I do. You are the single most significant contribution I'll make in my lifetime and I desperately want to do this right.

I love you, sweetheart.

-Mama

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