A Letter I Could Write to Myself

The idea that you could somehow read a letter that you wrote to yourself for yourself to read as a kid from the perspective of being an adult.... Without the use of time travel and crazy dreams... lets give it a try....

Some of my fondest and most "teachable moments"


First I would tell myself that as a kid and you have a kid sister ( or brother ) , you ALWAYS stand up for her/him even though you still do the lame things that older siblings are known to do.  You know this because some day your sister will be your best friend and that is something that should be cherished.   Your Mom will most likely be right about most things in life ( not ALL things.. just most) ... This is not something that you will realize until much later in life.  You always have to remain Daddy's Girl.. that will come in handy some day.  Although it will NOT come in handy for senior skip day when you want him to tell your Principal that you were home sick, rather than at Darien Lake having fun with your friends.  This will result in detention until graduation day. 

In 6th grade you will have a teacher that takes the time to care about you.  Most kids will not like her because she challenges you, but know that this teacher will help you greatly in life.  She will take the time to announce to the class that you were the only one that received a perfect score on a science test that you worked your butt off studying for.  You will always remember the feeling of this moment as a feeling that all kids (big or small) should have the opportunity of having.

In 7th grade Home Economics class DO NOT start the test without reading all the questions first...

The terribly mean kid in your homeroom class that bullies everyone has a horrible home life and is crying out for attention... this will go unknown all of high school and he will eventually not be in school anymore...

In 8th grade you will lose your 26 year old Uncle to cancer.  You will watch your Mother and Grandmother go through more pain that anyone should ever have to.  You will always wonder if you spent enough time with him, if he really knew you as a niece.. as you get older this takes on a greater importance in your life. When you turn 26 you will think about this being Craig's last year on earth.  So much more life.... ( this is when you will really start to question the "right and wrong" things and why things happen the way they do. )

When you are asked to the Prom by someone that you don't really know, and have no real "attraction" to        ( you will find out later in life that there is a reason for this :) ) , go anyway because he will become your best friend in school, and you will have some of the best times of your life together.  You will tell your kids of all the fun you had together and that accepting someone for who they are is all that God ever wants ( no matter what you hear otherwise).

Your sophmore year you will have a decision to make, after a football game, of weather or not you should ride with someone that you shouldn't, and you will make the right decision.  I am pretty sure the parents that had to come and get their kids that night at the station wished they had made the right decision. Sometimes walking home or calling for a ride is the best thing.

You should, however, this same year go cliff jumping.... JUST for the mere fact that you can respond "yes" when asked if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you? YUP.  

In English class in 11th grade there will be a kid that always made the teacher mad... always antagonized her... ( this is a teacher you will have great respect for ).  One day this kid will make fun of the teacher and the teacher will make fun back ( stupid childish stuff which makes you lose a little respect for her ), take note of this and try to be a person that maybe asks the kid if everything is all right or if he needs some help, because in about 4 years, after you are married and have a child, he will die of cancer and you will always wonder if he was truly happy while he lived. 

You will struggle with your school work your entire high school career.  You don't like it, you hate math, you hate science and could care less.  You should care.  You will, however, love English.  Take more pride in this rather than feeling like you are an outcast because you like Shakespeare and Wordsworth.  You will have children that are extremely smart, and you will wish that you had paid attention more and remembered more... Ask yourself any song lyric from the 1990's and you will be able to recite it... but a math formula or science experiement.. forget it.  Song lyrics will NOT someday help your children with school, or you in life.

Jason will break your heart and you will break his heart a number of times, it will seem like the end of life as you know it, you will live.   A year seems like such a long time when you are 16.... life will go on.

your senior year in high school your best friend will decide that for some reason she is done being your friend and decides to give you the cold shoulder leaving you feeling very alone.  Of course this is a time when you don't take everything home with you like your kids will someday.  What happened in school stayed in school.   She decided that she was going to be friends with other people that you didn't like.  You will try WAY too hard to remain her friend....she will think that she is "excluding you" in her doings, but in reality you will be becoming very good friends with the above mentioned prom date.  Someone that you still talk you. The best friend will not even invite you to her wedding, and you will not really have much contact after you get married.  This should seem like a bigger loss... but it isnt.  True friends are true friends... that is that.

You will be asked about college... what do you wanna be? You will have no idea.  You have no desire to go to college.  Later in life you will receive a degree after you are married with two kids.  I really don't know what to tell you about this....you wont want to go to college after school and later you will appreciate it more when you do it on your own.   

You will graduate in June of 1993.  It will be as hot as hell that day.   It will not be as big of a deal as you think it will be.  By that, i mean the ceremony itself. Take it or leave it.  My grandparents, however, came to my graduation and this is the last time i had a picture with both of them.

Treasure this picture.  As grainy and blurry as it is, it is the last one you will have with your Grandmother.  She will pass away in less than a year after this is taken.  So no matter now hot it is, or much you just don't feel like taking pictures, do it and love it.

Do not move out when you have the chance, it will not turn out well and you will relive this choice for the rest of your life.

Skip ahead a few years to where you find yourself on a blind date with someone you met through a DJ on a radio station when you called to request a song.  The line will be busy.. call back.  This person will have a year and a half old daughter and had just gone through a divorce.  Is this the person you will spend the rest of your life with? You love how he takes care of his daughter and you become really good friends before anything else. You will talk for hours on the phone, you will become really good friends.  You will find yourself, pretty soon, in a place where you have to tell your parents you are expecting.  You will think that your father will disown you ( which is a thought that will make you sick when you think about it after that)... he will not disown you. 

You will get married and have two beautiful daughters with him plus his daughter and 14 years later you will start to think about writing a letter to yourself.......