Dear Julianne

Trudy knew that she was not going to make it through the night. In the year 2080, to control population, the World government had made genetic modifications to all women at birth. They could only have one child, and they didn't survive the birth. A life for a life, it was called. As the storm rallied and the wind blew, she cried and screamed in labour. She was pregnant with her daughter. She was saddened to know that her daughter would grow up without her parents. She suddenly knew what she had to do so that her daughter didn't feel alone.

She knew that she needed to leave memories for her little girl. She required her precious princess to know who her father was and that true love existed. Trudy asked the doctors for a time capsule. She decided to store all her memories for her daughter. Trudy wanted her daughter to know the man who had been her lover, soulmate, and friend and who was father to their daughter. She thought of the way they met, and their short but tragic tale, she only wanted to leave the good.

She stored the memories of how they had met on the beach that summer day. When he was jogging by and saw her, and ran over to her telling her, 'I noticed that you're the most beautiful girl on the beach and I didn't want you to be alone' and how she said to him that was cheesy and did he pick up all the girls like that? He told her, 'no, only the pretty ones. '

She smiled as she put into the capsule memories of their first kiss. Jake had taken her on a date to a little Bistro that had opened up. They sat in a booth in the corner talking about their lives, and it felt like they had known each other all their lives. He knew things she wanted to do with her future, and she knew his accomplishments and dreams from the past. It just seemed like their lives were meant to fit together. 

She remembered how they couldn't take their eyes off each other and how they stayed at the restaurant until it was past closing time. A waiter finally gathered the courage to come up to them and say it was time for them to leave. They stood up and walked outside the restaurant hand-in-hand already feeling like they knew each other. He had turned at the door and pulled her against him, kissing her gently. It sounded like a symphony was playing in the air when they kissed, it felt like coming home, and suddenly she knew that restless feeling she had felt all her life was the need to find this man who felt like home. They walked hand-in-hand and sat at a park bench. 

They looked at the stars, listened to each other, and listened to the night. They talked about everything and nothing into the wee hours before they knew it was morning. It felt like they had said everything and nothing that day. He told her, 'I have met the woman I'm going to marry.'

 'Who is that?' She asked. 'Well, you obviously', he replied. She smiled and said, 'You're going to have to do better than that if that's your proposal.' He smiled back and said, 'we'll see.' He never got to ask her to marry him because as it so happened, he wasn't meant to live long. 

They had a short, torrid and passionate affair. It lasted six months and before Jake could propose or they could get married, he was involved in a biking accident. A truck crashed his bike, and he didn't survive it. He died in the ICU that night. Trudy was five months pregnant by then.

Trudy was called from the hospital by his sister. She was sobbing and told Trudy the news. Trudy was devastated, and couldn't believe Jack was gone. She wondered what she would do. Trudy missed him every day. His smile, his way of saying precisely what she needed to hear. The way he loved her like she was the only thing worth doing. She wondered who would raise her daughter. She felt cheated. She had met her soulmate only for him to be taken away before they really began. They hadn't even had a year together. She needed him and loved him. How was she supposed to live on without him? 

Trudy decided that since their baby girl was the only thing that she would have left of Jack, she would try to give her the best life ever. It broke her heart that she wouldn't survive birth. What kind of father would Jack have been if he had lived that long?

Trudy decided to call her little girl Julianne, after her father's middle name. She left a letter with the memories of their life together. 

Dear precious girl,

Your daddy and I would have loved to be here for you today, for every day of your life.

I'm sorry we can't be there, but we are watching over you from heaven.

 We're so proud of you and who you've become. 

You're the one thing we did right in this world. 

No matter what you do, follow your heart Precious and it will turn outright.

 I want you to know for every year of your life that you are phenomenal. 

You are wonderful. You are a queen and any man that wants you should treat you the way you deserve before you settle with him. You are enough as yourself, and you should never have to bow or look for a smaller Crown to make anyone feel better. 

You are perfect and precious just the way you are, and you are loved, my girl. 

So loved, we would have given you the world. Instead, we give you, Our hopes and dreams, our wishes for you to create the world that you deserve; the world that you love. 

Your father and I were soul mates, and it's something you can only find once in a lifetime. My beloved daughter, I hope you find a man that looks at you and sees who you will be, who you are, who you always were. A man that makes you feel alive. A man that can't go one day without talking to you because you're the best thing about his day. A man who knows just what you mean to him and will follow you across the world just to hold you for one day. One who will never let you go my girl.

 Your father and I will watch over you always, and if you ever need us, all you need to do is whisper a prayer on the wind, and we will make your dream come true. We love you, dear Julianne.