Recommended for you

Start writing a post

Relationships

An Open Letter To My Cousin On Her Birthday

You've blossomed in to a beautiful young lady.

Athena Sher

Dec 08, 2016

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

5869

An Open Letter To My Cousin On Her Birthday

Ask Dianne

Happy Birthday to my beautiful cousin,

You've blossomed into a beautiful young lady and I'm so proud to call you my little cousin. I'm so proud of you and all your accomplishments. I know I may not tell you enough, but you deserve to know that you're, "smart, beautiful, independent, and strong." All characteristics of a mature growing woman!

You've grown up so much and I can't believe you're about to enter high school. We're officially able to share clothes, gossip about boys, chit chat about friends, talk about what it's like being a girl, and believe me I know it's not all perfect! We also share the same taste in music, another plus.

You're like the little sister I've never had and I'm so proud to call you mine!

High school won't always be perfect. You'll meet great, awesome, and wonderful friends. You'll have friendships that will last lifetimes, and others won't even last a day. You'll have many "first loves" and many "crushes," but avoid them for as long as possible, because you don't want to miss great high school experiences for some boy! You'll also encounter bullies and "mean girls" who will absolutely be jealous of your appearance, personality, and strength, but please promise me, you will pay them no mind. These girls will pick at you for anything just to see you upset or depressed, but they're not worth your energy.

I had a tough high school experience and I don't want you to have the same. You deserve to reach every milestone on your own path and to enjoy the view. It won't always be "smooth sailing," you'll have some rough waves ahead, but the future will always be brighter. I promise, just when you think you've experienced "the worse," there's always someone who is experiencing "the worse" ten times harder. You're always welcomed to come talk to me, and believe me I have plenty of stories to tell you! You'll have your first crush, and trust me they're not worth your time. Your first high school love may break your heart, but know I'll be the first at your door with ice cream and sappy movies.

You deserve to have the support of an older sister and I hope to give you just that. You're a bright, intelligent, maturing adult and you're on a very wonderful path. Sometimes you'll have to decide which step on your path to take next, and I hope to be there to help you chose or even support your choice. You deserve the best advice and what advice is better than coming from another girl who lived it!

Remember you can excel at anything you put your mind to. Remember to not let words get to you. Remember you have choices, some big some small, but they have to be made. Most importantly, remember that you have an older sister who will always look out for you.

I'll leave you with this quote by Robert Frost, as you celebrate this birthday and enter a new chapter of this wonderful journey we call life,

"I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

Happy birthday to my little cousin and to many more.

Enjoy with love,

Your extremely proud cousin.

Report this Content

This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

Health and Wellness

5 Ways To Bring Positivity Into Your Life When All You Want To Do Is Drown In Self-Pity

It seems like life has been serving up more bad than good and in all honesty, the only thing you want to do is crawl under your covers and hide from the rest of the world.

Grand Canyon University

881

5 Ways To Bring Positivity Into Your Life When All You Want To Do Is Drown In Self-Pity

Photo by Kinga Howard on Unsplash

The first two weeks of classes have come to an end and they have been anything BUT easy. It seems like life has been serving up more bad than good and in all honesty, the only thing you want to do is crawl under your covers and hide from the rest of the world.

Although this seems like the best solution, it is also the easy way out. Take it from the girl who took basically a whole week off from her life because she just could not handle everything that was being thrown at her. This caused her to feel extremely lonely and even more stressed out for being behind in classes that JUST began.

Keep Reading...Show less

self-pity

Entertainment

11 Things We Learned From Brooke Davis

"What's more important? What we become or how we become it?"

St. Thomas Aquinas College

456

"She was fiercely independent, Brooke Davis. Brilliant, and beautiful, and brave. In two years she had grown more than anyone I had ever known. Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday, and I'm not sure she even knows it." - Lucas Scott, An Unkindness of Ravens

Brooke Davis of the hit show One Tree Hill was the it girl - she had it all, or so we thought. She started out as a stuck-up, shallow, spoiled, head cheerleader who didn't have her life together. She slept around a lot and loved to party - sounds like your typical high school teenager right? Wrong. B. Davis had so much more to offer. Caring, loyal, and outspoken, she has taught us some valuable lessons throughout the 9 seasons that OTH was on the air:

Keep Reading...Show less

brooke davis

Relationships

11 Signs You Have An Honorary Roommate

Make yourself at home, why don't you?

Appalachian State University

2367

Rachel Zadeits

For some of us, coming to college was the first time we ever had to share a room. It was a big change, but a fun one. As you meet more and more people over the course of your college career, it seems to be a pattern that you will at some point have that one friend that doesn't live with you, but acts like they do. We call those people, "Honorary Roommates" and here are 11 signs you have one in your life.