To the person who had one of the biggest impacts on my life,

First of all, thank you. I just finished my freshman year of college and it was the most thrilling, unpredictable, and frightening year of my entire life.

When I graduated last year I had no clue what to expect, all I really knew is that I would always have a place to come back to and that's because of you and how you 'raised' all of us. You taught us to be kind to one other. You taught us to lean on one another in times of need. But most importantly you taught us that we were just a big family.

And like a family we would argue, and disagree, and yell at each other but in the end it didn't matter. We would always be there for one of our own.

The moment I really knew how well you had drilled into us the meaning of family was the second week of my senior year when I thought things were going to crumble. You had decided to retire the year before and we got stuck with some new guy, but before we knew it he was gone. But instead of enjoying your retirement you swooped in, picked us up off the ground, and dusted us off and told us that it would be okay. We didn't know what was going to happen, all we knew is that we trusted you whole-heartedly to get us through it. And throughout the entire thing we leaned on one another, and we got through it as a family, and stronger than ever.

On one of the last days of my senior year, I went to you and told you I wasn't sure about college. My entire life up until now had always been planned, and so to say I was a little unsure of graduating is a bit of an understatement. But I sat down in your office and we chatted, and you told me not to worry over the things that I can't control. So I pushed the worry and uncertainty to the side and I walked across that stage, and soon after I left for college.

I got back home for the summer not even a week ago, but I know that if I saw you today I could say that I tried my hardest and did the best I could do and it's because I didn't let that uncertainty overcome me. I embraced it, and kept moving forward.

So thank you, I really don't know where I'd be without you.