Dear Future Self,

Dear future self,

What a ride it's been, eh? You're probably much older now, well, you being in the future and all, but I'm sure you won't forget who you were before you grew up and went out into the world. I want to fill you in on everything that has happened, but you probably already know. Since it happened to you too. But I do have a lot of questions. I guess life is a little confusing right now. I guess life will always be a little bit confusing. I mean, I have loads of worries. Friends, family, sports, popularity, image, I could go on and on. But I bet you could too. Though yours probably sounds like business, marriage, finance, putting food on the table. You know, all that boring adult stuff. Not that all that stuff isn't important, but still boring. But I guess I can give you some credit. All of that is probably more stressful than how I look in a bathing suit, or if I'm going to get my serves over the net in volleyball. I always loved volleyball. Well, I still do love it. One of my favorite things to do. You remember, don't you? We used to hit our volleyball against our wall to clear our heads. And we'd only stop when everything made sense, or when mom would tell us we were being too loud. We used to sing, too. When we were bored. We used to write songs when we were sad, or angry, or when we were feeling just fine. And that one friend used to make us sing them over and over again. We always thought we were one of the best singers. I still think we're better than the average bear. You may not think that anymore, and that's ok. I guess I'll find out when I'm older. I remember when we loved art. Santa Claus turned the under-the-stairs closet into an art studio. We used to go in there for hours at a time. At least it felt like hours, it might have just been thirty minutes. It might have been one of those days when it feels like time is trying to make you wait for something. Like on the night before our birthday. We used to lie and bed and wait for sleep to come, but it didn't since we were so excited. Well, at least it didn't until much later, when we were so tired we could barely keep our eyes open. Birthdays were always so fun. You remember, don't you?  I remember dressing up in princess costumes with a bunch of friends and having a tea party. Man, that was fun. And the little cheese cubes were my favorite. I'm older now, so I don't do princesses and tea parties anymore. We had a lot of good times, and I hope we continue to keep having those special moments. But life isn't always princesses and tea parties and volleyballs. Although I dearly wish it were. Well, not exactly princesses and tea parties, but you get the metaphor. I remember when our dog died, Molly. She was really sick and didn't want to eat her food, so mom and dad took her to the vet one night. And she didn't come back. Dad said that they rid her of her suffering, and I guess that's true. But it didn't let the rest of us suffer less. We were young, so it didn't hit us as hard as it hit my parents. I remember them crying, but we didn't cry. We almost did, not that that's an excuse or anything. We didn't know Molly that well, I only really remember her being an older dog, since I'm pretty sure mom had her before we were born. We got a new dog that Christmas, and he is crazy, but I love him. We love him. I don't really want to imagine the day when I have to let him go.

There has been a lot of friendship drama over the years. I’m curious to see who we will end up with in the end. I remember all the stupid fights and the weeks when we didn’t talk to our friends. Most of the time we never even told our parents. You remember, don’t you? All the silent car rides and folded up paper notes and crying, so much crying. All the endless text strings of terrible things we said to them and they said to us. I’m trying to forget it. And I hope it isn’t like this for you because everybody is more mature. Well, I hope everybody is more mature. Especially the boys. I wonder what it’s going to be like for us, in the next decade or so. Going through all the stressful times. SATs, college applications, etc. I know you probably have made it through all of that already, or still going through it, but I have hope that we are gonna make it out alright. I have hope that this life won’t be so bad, despite the bad times. And like I said, so far, I’ve had some really good times. I’m going back to summer camp this summer, and I’m so excited I can hardly wait! Almost all of my camp friends will be there and I get to do all of the fun things that are waiting for me! I hope someday we become a counselor there. My dad told me that it’s even more fun than being a camper, though that’s hard to believe. I get to swim and jump and scream and cheer and laugh and sing and, well, you get the picture. I hope we have fun. I mean, I pretty much know I’m going to have fun. Unless I break a finger again. Yes, I’m sure you remember that. But I seem to have gotten off track. What I wanted to say is I hope you find your place out there. I hope you get some of the things you want. I hope you build good relationships. I hope you find that perfect special someone. I hope you find what you’re looking for, whatever that may be.

Sincerely,

A Younger Version Of Yourself