Begin on a short cut-through road in East Hampton where all the trees burst into a bright green color in peak springtime. Fall in love with the beach at a young age. Say “eppo” as your first word because there's a hippo sticker that hangs above your changing table. Have your first eye doctor tell you that you’re albino. Create an untouchable bond with Aunt Sue who's not actually your aunt. Meet with your cousins every new year and summer. Go to your grandma's house every Thursday. Start dancing with your sister. Ride on your dad's shoulders because you can see the whole world. 

Start preschool. Learn spanish one day while eating yogurt puffs. Learn that the word no is the same in english and spanish. Call your sister “Ra Ra” because you can't pronounce Lauren. Start kindergarten and meet your forever friends. Watch your dad make a perfect snow angel and attempt to make one too. Fall flat on your face while trying to leap in ballet. Drive for hours on long road trips to visit Nana in Kentucky. Get eye surgery and watch the movie Rio for the whole week since you aren't able to get off the couch. Perform in one ballet after another. Complain when your mom makes you do junior lifeguards. Dance around in the water from the sprinklers. Become ecstatic when you find out you're getting pointe shoes. Score your first goal and travel lacrosse and look into the stands to see your family more proud of you than ever. Graduate elementary school.

Go to sleepaway camp. Love the first year of camp and hate the second. Make fun of all the British counselors because of their accents and how they always need their “tea time.” Stay at the beach late for bonfires. Fight with your sister over who gets the first shower after long beach days. Ride in the bed of your dad's truck. Jump up and down with your best friend when you both get your first major role in the Nutcracker. Get a hot marshmallow stuck in your hair and run into the ocean to scrape it off. Make friends from another school. Have sleepovers and tell each other everything. Insist that your chorus teacher has it out for you. Begin to despise dance because of your teacher. Play in field hockey games. Travel to Canada with your friends. Make new friends while on the trip. 

Become happy when you find out schools cancelled for two days because of covid-19. Watch as two days turns into a month. Which turns into two months which turns into the whole school year. FaceTime your friends all day and night. Learn how to do classes online. Struggle with every step of the way. Find out how much humans depend on their friends. Hear my mom constantly saying “I guess that's just the new normal.” Get a new dog. Hate the dog then love the dog. Laugh until you cry at family dinners. Hear everyone tell you, “you look just like your dad.” Spend a month with your cousin. Become closer than ever with her. Go to Hilton Head and Christain sleepaway camp. Pick up a southern accent and keep subconsciously saying “y’all.” Start to understand what being religious means and have more faith in the lord. Watch so many sunsets and become mesmerized by the colors. Continuously go to the beach everyday. Learn to surf and ride the oceans waves. Observe as your skin burns to a crisp in the sun. Hate your German skin because of that. Find out people who you thought were your best friends actually hate you.

Start eighth grade in a hybrid model. Think about everything. Change dance studios because you couldn't stand your dance teacher anymore. Drive to see your cousins in Virginia. Ski for the first time. Fall on your butt a lot. Struggle through online school. Sit downstairs and cuddle with your dog all day. Play in the snow in between classes. Get countless covid tests. Cry when you give your grandma a hug and she tells you that it's her first hug in a year. Go out to dinner with your friends. Lose your voice singing on karaoke nights. Drive around late at night. Get pulled up to JV lacrosse. Sit in literacy class. Reflect on your life to be able to write this.