Happy 20th Birthday Sweet Girl!

Dear Caroline,

When I think of you- when you are driving six hours home from Richmond on your own or volunteering as a teacher’s assistant at your own elementary school, with many of the same women who taught you and Katherine a decade ago- the person I see in my mind is the little girl pictured above.

This is why I still worry. Why I nag. Why I can’t fully fall asleep until I know you are home for the night.

Because how is this little girl doing all these things on her own? How did she live in the same dorm room (the same exact room!) that I lived in thirty yeas ago? How is she choosing a major and booking trips for weekend adventures during her four month study abroad this coming fall? How is this little girl thinking about what she will do after graduation?

This little girl is the same 20 year old who continues to amaze us with the work ethic and love of learning she has always had. Who unsurprisingly is not only getting great grades but is also being selected by faculty and her peers for remarkable leadership opportunities on campus? This leads us to know what a gift she continues to be in a classroom.

How is this little girl the same as the 20 year old who has maintained such a close relationship with her sister and her high school friends from such a distance, prioritizing connection as she always has while finding such wonderful friends at Richmond, people who she loves and who love her back just as fiercely?

How is this little girl the one who I took vacations with this year- getting massages and reading books by the pool instead of holding her hand as she jumped over wave after wave after wave.

My image of the little girl above is why you describe me as ‘always involved and always concerned’. You are right. I am proudly both of those things. Intellectually, I know that you are no longer a baby. Goodness, you are no longer even a teenager but… but you are always and forever my little girl.

I love you and I am so proud of you and I know that this new decade is going to be amazing!

Love,

Me