Goodbye 13 - it's hard to know where to begin. You have grown both figuratively and literally. You have been full of quiet understanding and patience as other things, other situations, and other people demanded the whole of everyone's attention. You have taken a back seat to everyone else's lives at times, with mostly grace and only a few tears you've spent a lot of time waiting for your turn. You have slept a lot. I mean a lot. Like seriously a lot. And the eating, copious amounts of food that we have no idea where it goes.
You have been stealthily growing when all the attention was elsewhere and emerged into someone we always knew was going to show up. You have believed in yourself when teachers and coaches and friends didn't and learned that sometimes to find yourself; you have to walk away from those voices and dig deep or find new ones. You found your own W, so many quiet Ws. And now it's your turn to rise up.
So Hello 14, you are fierce, you have style, you have grace, you have a point of view. You are a handful of moods and looks and everything you should be. It's time to head to high school, where 17 is waiting to welcome you and show you the ropes, to hand it all off to you. We can't wait to watch you make it your own and take your turn in the light.
