A Thank You Letter to Past Roses

Dear Past Roses,

Thank you for getting enrolled in college and starting us on the path to get that Bachelor's degree.
I know you wish you had done it sooner, but the important point is that you *did* it.  Thank you for doing that and not leaving it for me to take care of.

I appreciate how hard it was for you to get it done, too.
The online application process sucked eggs.
The vague communications that the school sent were frustrating and confusing.
I watched you weep on the phone while you tried to decide whether to sign up late for orientation or just wait one more semester to start.  Either choice would have been okay, honey, but you sucked it up and made the bold decision to just go for it.  (I admire you for that, by the way.  I am now more willing to step outside my comfort zone in order to move ahead.  Because *you've* done it, I know I can do it, too.)
It was also very good of you to refrain from smacking the snarky chick in orientation who made remarks about how your new campus email address was "right there" in that one confusing and frustrating letter.

The learning curve was steep.  You dug in and overcame it.

These were all small steps, but they added up to a big move forward.


I can't tell you just how grateful I am to you for getting me where I am today.
I have such a long way to go, yet, but if you hadn't done the hard work when you did, I'd have even farther to go from here.

Thank you, Past Roses.
You inspire me to do good things for Future Roses.

The photo that inspired this post.