October 2025 - A year has passed

Dear Molly,

It’s October again. Our season. I always seem to write to you in autumn, though I never plan it. A year has slipped by since the last letter. My joy now is knowing you love this time too. You don’t just say it; I see it in how you settle. Today you said you were happy in the drizzle, and I believed you. You looked grounded.

Last year you were finding your feet at senior school and in cadets. This year you’ve returned from summer camp with an early promotion and stepped into your GCSE years full of ambition, with your academic scholarship. You work hard and you’re thriving. Parents’ evening was a quiet triumph. Few things please me more than hearing your teachers speak of your intellect, humour, and authentic kindness.

Life is full, our days finely balanced. Still, we keep our small rituals. Dinner at home, laughter, and rest where we can. I see my role as one where I must inspire you, show you the potential in the world, support your journey to independence and to keep you healthy, warm and happy, and also, to nag you to read books and hydrate!

At fifteen you carry a calm beyond your years. Your favourite film, Dead Poets Society, suits you perfectly, curiosity, courage, voice. You move easily among people, building friendships and attracting allies. There’s quiet strength in the way you lead, not by noise, but by knowing who you are.

Today a man said "nice car" to me and then proceeded to ask if it belonged to my husband! The idea that someone might ask a man if their nice car belonged to their wife is so extraordinary that it tells you all it needs to. You’ll meet that question too, in one form or another. The world still asks women to prove themselves twice. One day you’ll answer, as I did, that the car is yours. You already know that success is built, not given; that education and discipline matter and that you have to feel discomfort on the path to success. You chose to share this quote following your recent trip to NASA in Houston:

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade, and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” - John F Kennedy.

I offer less advice now. You seem to have your own compass, and that is as it should be.

Below is you at Mission Control in Houston, and you, proud of your rocket build. I love that showing true emotion in photos matters more to you than a perfectly curated Insta shot. I hope you never lose that.

There’s nothing I would change. You are unfolding as you should. I feel the loosening where once your little hand was in mine; now we walk side by side, our threads light as cobwebs in the wind. Your world is widening, and I am learning to let it.

“No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world." ~ Keating, Dead Poets Society

I love you always.