Dear Mom

Dear Mom, I am a Sigma Kappa alumna. Yesterday I transitioned over from a collegiate member to an alumna of Sigma Kappa Beta Nu. This is extremely bittersweet for me because I have loved my collegiate years as a Sigma Kappa. I cried way more than I expected. I thanked them for all the memories and for being there for me after your passing. I am forever grateful for the friendships I have made and the memories I have made. I don’t know how I would have gotten through college without this organization. I have had numerous leadership opportunities within SK that showed me my true potential even when I didn’t see it. My junior year I was the Junior Representative for Standards Council and I was also elected the Vice President of Alumnae Relations. Being the Vice President of Alumnae Relations made becoming an alumna that more impactful. I have seen the influence that Sigma Kappa has had on our alumnae first hand. I am excited for the lifelong membership and to continue my forever friendshi...

Dear Mom, This week has been incredibly difficult. I had a presentation of a case study on Monday for ML 452, my executive summary was due at 8am this morning, my entire capstone project is due today, and I have a bunch of other homework assignments. To top it all off my last three Amazon orders have been messed up.  You know how much I love Amazon and that just hits deep. The first item to go horribly wrong was my graduation dress. It came in but it was the wrong size. If it was a little off I could have made do but this dress was twice the size of me and I was absolutely swimming in it. I didn’t realize that it was a third party seller and the company put up a fight and did not want to allow me to return it. I did not back down because I was so annoyed and eventually they refunded my money. Thank goodness.  The next day my package said it was delivered and it was nowhere to be found. I contacted customer service and they said to give it 24 hours because it could have been fa...

Dear Mom, I am back at school! It was sad packing up at home and heading to Bradley for the last time. I drove with my graduation cap and gown in the back of my car and it made graduation feel so real. I am excited but also nervous all at the same time. I know it’ll be a great experience but I will miss all of my friends down here. It will be weird having us all in different states. I have some exciting news! I got my first Covid-19 vaccination! I am super grateful that I was able to receive one because I know it’s such a privilege. My arm hurt for two days but the benefits will make it so worth it. Thankfully, I didn’t have any bad reaction or negative side effects other than that. It’s sad to think that you never got to see the vaccine be released because you were so hopeful to see the end of this pandemic. At the same time, I’m glad you didn’t have to stress about me finding an appointment or having a reaction. The process of getting it done was super strange though. It honestly mad...

Dear Mom, I’ve started having nightmares again. It’s weird being 22 and not being able to sleep like I’m a kid again. Whenever I’d have bad dreams as a kid I would go sleep in between you and dad and you always said I kicked so much you couldn’t sleep. Whoops sorry. But hey, at least I slept and you had a slightly less irritable Lacey.  Dad’s favorite story is how I used to climb out of my crib as a baby and so you guys bought one of those crib tents. To this day I remember that horrid tent. I also remember learning how to unzip the tent. Honestly, I think it’s my first memory. I hated that tent because it took away my freedoms, at least for the first 3 days until I learned to escape.  I wish you were here when I have bad dreams now. They are so much worse than when I was a kid. They are no longer about monsters under the bed or crocodiles coming out of the sewers. They are about real life issues. Thursday night/Friday morning I had a dream that you survived your stroke and I ...

Dear Mom, I went ice skating on Saturday for the first time in two years. It was so much fun but also very difficult! I went with Joey and some friends to finally celebrate Joey’s birthday from December. I have a tradition of throwing him really cool birthday parties. In 2018 we did a surprise Chicago trip. In 2019 we went to a trampoline park. And for a very belated 2020 we went ice skating. You passed away three weeks before his birthday so I wasn’t in the mindset where I was able to plan anything. I was able to make a 21st birthday video for him with clips from the day he was brought home from the hospital and birthday messages wishing him a happy 21st so I’m not the worst girlfriend to exist. You would have loved that video. You always told me I should make videos for others and sell them. I’m not totally opposed but that may come later on. In addition to ice skating, we walked around downtown Elmhurst (we wanted to be as covid friendly as possible.) I got to tour the office for th...

Dear Mom, Today was a life changing day for me! I helped in my first ever product launch! The company that I do my internship for released a bunch of new products today for a Greek life apparel line. I’ve been working on this since November of last year and I’m excited to see it come full circle. I’ve done influencer marketing, content creation, Facebook advertising, social media campaigns, and so much more to prepare for today.  There’s still a lot of work to do, but I am happy to see my work making a difference. I’ve already seen more engagement on Instagram and it’ll be fun to see how the conversions reflect that. This internship has taught me so much and I am so grateful I’ve had this opportunity. You would have been really proud of me and I’m disappointed that you didn’t get to see the outcome. That’s not all, I’ve done a lot of “big girl” things this week. I had a LinkedIn photoshoot to get some more professional looking photos before graduation. I also used the shoot for a h...