Dear Olivia,

I will be graduating from St. Teresa’s Academy in three days. I’ll be wearing the white cap and gown I’ve always gawked at, walking across the stage both of us danced on for years-ago recitals, and looking for our family in the crowd as I am handed my diploma.

I will sob. And you’ll probably be the one to hand me a tissue from that tiny purse you always wear around your shoulder, because somehow, you always manage to fit all the essentials in there.

Dear Olivia,

I was really nervous for you as I drove you to Star Night a few weeks ago. Maybe even more nervous than I had been in 8th grade, but who’s to say? It feels like forever ago. As I sat in the black Honda civic we’ve shared so many memories in, I  had felt bad for you and happy for myself because I already have a great group of friends at STA. I’ve already found my place here, and finding your place somewhere is a special thing. And then I remembered that I will be graduating from this place on May 22, and moving to a place I’ve visited twice. After Star Night, you told me you’d already found your best friend. I was elated for you, but wondered why I’d considered myself the lucky one.

Dear Olivia,

I wrote in this little pink journal freshman year that I meant to write in during all of high school and then present to you before you came here. I think I wrote in it five times. And three of them were freshman year. I wrote about how excited I was to be a doo-wop girl in the musical, and how you should thank Mrs. Hershewe for me if you see her, because she’s so nice.

I also wrote about how much I love you. That will never change.

Dear Olivia,

You have so much ahead of you. It’s so weird that soon, I’ll only have memories of high school, but right now you can only dream of it. About the things you’d never known you didn’t know. About the beautiful color the trees turn on campus that makes them seem different than every other tree in Kansas City. About the adventures you’ll have with your best friends. About the feeling you’ll get when it’s all over. But you don’t have to dream. You’ll just have to wait.

Dear Olivia,

You deserve it. After all your hard work in grade school, you deserve to have your own amazing experience at the best school in Kansas City. You deserve to giggle with your friends at pep rally videos. You deserve to be pushed to do your best, and accomplish things you’d never dreamed of accomplishing. You deserve to eat a ton of Waldo Pizza. And you deserve to walk across the seal uninhibited, even though they put those chains around the outside. If they catch you walking on it, tell them I said you could.

Dear Olivia,

In three days, St. Teresa’s Academy will become my alma mater. And in three months, it’ll become your home. You’ll gain 600 sisters, but I know I’ll always be your favorite.

Dear Olivia,

Welcome to STA.

 
-Torie