Dear sweet summer,

You'll be missed.

As you come to an end, I want to look back and reflect on the goodness you brought me.

For starters, you flew by so fast. You always seem to have a knack for doing that and I hate it. It seemed like you just started, then I blink and you're gone.

You were a crazy busy one for sure. I always had to have my planner up to date, just to keep up with you! And to be honest, this was the only the second summer when I had to do that. But I guess this is what adulthood looks like from now on.

You were filled with days of work. For the first time in a summer, Monday-Friday was spent at either the office or the gym where I worked. I never got to sleep in past 8 a.m. and I appreciated those late afternoon naps whenever I could sneak them in.

Your weekends were for sleeping in and not setting an alarm (and for letting your whole family know, the night before, that you wanted to sleep in, so that no one would wake you before at least 11 a.m.).

They were also for catching up with your friends for lunches, shopping trips and going to the movie theater.

Speaking of friends, they were a big part of summer '16 too. Even though, at times, it felt like it was next to impossible to hang out, you somehow made it work that we could. We tried to memorize each other's work schedules, and to set up a date to meet up, usually weeks in advance. We always made the most of the time that we had.

Summer, you brought me traveling experiences and new places to explore. From a cool Jesuit University Leaders conference in the gem of a city, Cleveland, OH, to adventuring in the North Shore of Minnesota, I loved every minute of my travels. I learned to not freak out too much when your connecting flight gets delayed 12 hours and that Dramamine can be a best friend when it comes to winding coastal roads. I realized that mom and daughter weekend trips are good for the soul too.

You were a summer bursting with fun concerts, a 'dramatic' "Bachelorette" Season 12 to watch every Monday night with my childhood friends, many trips to Sonic and late nights of watching random Netflix movies.

There were a lot of birthday celebrations to be had, and a few were even milestones. Leftover cake was sometimes even a breakfast option. Oops.

You were definitely one of the warmest summers I can remember, but thankfully your finale seems to be cooler days to end out your season.

Summer 2016, I will be sad to say goodbye to you, but I have to very soon. As I start the first week of classes and got bogged down with an increase of responsibilities, meetings, assignments and due dates, I'll be wanting you to come back quickly.

Thank you for all of the memories, laughs, heart-to-heart talks, summer job paychecks, dinners with family and $0.79 Quik Trip drinks.

Looking forward to you, Summer '17.

Sincerely,

A summer-obsessed gal