Dear Nicole,

Happy almost birthday! Can you almost believe that you will be 23 soon (and by soon I mean in less than a few days)!? Where has the time gone? Remember your obsession with Barney and Teletubbies? Yeah I remember that like it was yesterday!

Now, fast forward a few years to turning 22. A lot has happened to you that will be memorable to you for sure in years to come. When you were 22, you were in the midst of your senior year of college and scared of what the future held. Graduation was waiting the wings for you, and you were dreading for that day because you have no idea what the next chapter in your life would bring.

You are living on your own and learning what it is like to budget money, and try to save up for rent ... yikes, but you are handling it like a champ! You also learned how to value friendships and what it really means to have someone's back and remain loyal to them no matter what life throws at you. Just keep smiling and everything will be okay.

You also handled a great deal of loss when your mother passed away after a long battle with cancer, and you know how hard the future and living life without her is going to be. It's not going to be easy, but it is for sure going to be a roller coaster ride of emotions.

You have lived age 22 very well, but I am ready to see what being 23 has to bring. I have a feeling it is going to be an amazing year with lots of new opportunities!

Hope you enjoy your last days of feeling 22 as Taylor Swift would put it, in her hit song!

Sincerely,

A soon-to-be 23-year-old!