Dear Sweetness,

I know I'm writing this early, but there are so many things that need to be said. First of all, I can believe you're graduating from high school! I feel like you should still be a tiny, adorable toddler who loves bunnies and multicolored ketchup, and who dances to "Ice Cream and Cake" by the Buckwheat Boyz.

When we were children, you would sit in my bed and try to mimic my drawings, or we would climb into my treehouse where I let you decorate the walls with washable markers. Somedays, we would even sit and read quietly.

Somehow, all of this time passed though, and you're coming up on Graduation. We still read together, but it's usually for class assignments, and "Ice Cream and Cake" has been replaced by our amazing ginger husband, Ed Sheeran. We also realized that that purple Heinz ketchup was actually really gross, and thank goodness it was take off of the shelves.

As I think forward to your Graduation from high school, and hopefully other future graduations too, I want to give you a little advice.

Enjoy your last few weeks of senior year. You may not miss all of the strict guidelines of high school, but you will eventually miss your friends and even some of the high school events. As much as football can suck, it does grow on you when you don't have the time or money to go see it.

Don't stress so much over Graduation Day or anything after that. No, you aren't going to fall or make a fool of yourself, and if you think too much about your walking, you're going to miss all of the interesting parts. Take in as much of the speeches as you can. They can be pretty boring, but I promise, that you can get some amazing insight from the guest speaker and your valedictorian.

Know that you are amazing, and no matter what you do, you will always be my baby. You may be my niece by blood, but you're the closest thing I ever had to a baby sister. You are gorgeous, you are fierce, and the world is yours for the taking.

Signed,

That weird aunt with the tattoos and pink hair