Written by Gabrielle Estrada

Hello. How are you doing?

I know it’s weird for me to be asking that. It makes it seem as if I haven’t seen you in a while when we actually see each other everyday. After all, we do go home to the same house.

Lately, however, I’ve realized that a lot has changed around us. Suddenly, the mere sight of you isn’t enough for me to know how you are doing. Suddenly, the mere sight of me isn’t enough for you to know how I am doing too. It’s like seeing you isn’t seeing you anymore. This is exactly why I decided to write this letter. Ever since I entered college, I’ve become a completely different person. I began to realize that if I really wanted to go anywhere worth going, and if I really wanted to turn all my dreams to reality, I had to start taking life seriously.

College gave me my first taste of the real world. It taught me what it was like to really be responsible and accountable for myself. It’s been exciting, stressful, terrifying, and crazy. I’ve had to keep my grades up religiously while engaging in extracurricular activities and keeping my social life intact.

I’ve had to learn firsthand just how difficult it is to strike the balance between work and play. It’s brought me the best and worst experiences: from sleepless nights spent working to unforgettable days spent going out with my friends. Through all of this, I’ve managed to get to know myself better, make more meaningful relationships with others, and evolve into a more self-sufficient individual. But somewhere along the way, all the growing up that I did ended up with me growing apart from you. I’ve become more independent than I’ve ever been all my life. I guess this made me forget what it was like to be the little kid whose world was only as big as their parents would make it out to be.

I’m writing this letter to let you know that I never meant to shut you out and stop letting you in. I never meant to distance myself from you. I’m writing this letter to let you know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry that it took me a while to realize that as I began to find myself, I let myself lose you. I’m writing this letter to let you know that I‘m grateful for everything you’ve ever done and been for me all these years. I know that I wouldn’t be where I am without you. Most of all, I’m writing this letter to let you know that I love you. I love you the same way I did when you first taught me what it really meant to love. Although I may have stopped showing it the way I did when I was younger, I have never stopped loving you.

When the day comes that you no longer remember what it is like to be independent, and you can no longer stand up on your own, I will be here. I’ll be ready to help you get up and see the world the way you made me see it when I was too young to know anything.

It may seem like a far-fetched thought given how things are right now, but I want you to know that I mean it with all my heart. You mean the world to me, and my value of you only continues to increase as my world expands.

Although so much has changed and continues to change, I promise that my love for you will remain constant. You can always count on that.

Love, Your college kid