To my amazing family,

The time has finally arrived. The time for me to take flight and leave the nest. These last couple of weeks have been emotionally confusing for all of us. I know how hard this is on all of you, especially given the fact this is the first time we have gone through this. Don't be fooled by my excitement, although I am very excited, my heart hurts thinking about leaving home. Each and every one of you played an enormous role in the person I am today, constantly helping me to get to where I am today. I will cherish every memory leading up to this moment, and cannot wait for us to make more. These next few months are going to feel like years, but I promise I will be home in your loving arms soon enough.

To Mom and Dad, Thank you. Thank you for always pushing me to be the absolute best version of myself. Thank you for never giving up on me no matter how many times I wanted to give up on myself. Thank you for giving me every opportunity I could have ever asked for in order to succeed. Thank you for being tough on me, my five year old self would never want to admit that this was going to be a good thing for me but I can finally see how it paid off. Thank you for all the time you spent driving me to and from the gym so I could live out my dreams of being an All Star gymnast. Thank you for supporting me at every single sporting event. Thank you for wanting to be involved in my life, having you there always meant the world to me. Thank you for allowing me to create my own beliefs and values, but raising me right in order to do this. Thank you for loving my friends. Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on when things were too much for me to handle as a little girl. Thank you for putting up with my sleepless nights, assuring me there were no bad guys trying to come after me. Thank you for allowing me to sing at the top of my lungs to make me feel better, even though the whole time I was just annoying you. Thank you for always reassuring me especially when you saw me loose confidence in myself. Thank you for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for being you.

No matter how many times I may have pretended you were embarrassing me, you really are some super cool people. It is because of you that I am attending my dream school, and am being given the opportunity to achieve my goals. I love you both more then anything, and I could never of done this without you.

To my siblings, you are the reason I had the best childhood. I have never laughed or been more myself then when I was with you. So with that being said, thank you. Thank you for dealing and accepting my authoritative attitude. Thank you for always having my back through thick and thin. Thank you for accepting how weird I was and just going with it. Thank you for always doing your best to cheer me up when I was down. Thank you for supporting me through everything, I know going to all those sporting events can get pretty exhausting. Thank you for each developing your own relationship with me. Thank you for telling me the cold hard truth, it really helped me to grow as a person. Thank you for giving up your Friday night for me because I was down and needed a pick me up. Thank you for loving disney music with me. Thank you for trusting me with everything, especially the stuff you were too scared to tell mom and dad. Thank you for always knowing exactly what to say or do. Thank you for loving me with all your hearts. I can only hope that I returned all this love to you throughout all the time we spent together. I cannot wait to see where life takes you, you are all on to accomplish amazing things. I will be there for you every step of the way. Never forget how much I love you little ones.

A lot is changing but because of you I know I am ready, and I hope you are too. I cant wait to see where the future takes all of us. No matter how far we all wonder, the bond this family has built will never be broken. I love you all more then I can even put into words. So as my 5 year old self would say “ta ta for now.”