Today is a sunny November day here in Portland and if I could, I would write a letter to myself when I was about, say 13. This is what it would say:
You just need to get through this. It really does not get worse than this. Okay it does. But here is a list of some things that await you:
-14 November. Sun. Orange maples. In the distance, you can see the north bank of the Columbia River. Your heart will feel grounded. You will be able to stop looking for your ride home.
-There will be flowers blooming on this day.
-There will be four day weeks.
-Whatever it is, you will have another shot at it.
-There will be days when you do not feel afraid.
-All the people in your daily life will not be out to get you.
-You are lovely.
-New. Red. Car.
-You can eat whatever you want.
-Jason Bolz does not know what he is talking about on the bus.
-It will be fun to wear clothes, I promise.
-However cold you are now will be a distant memory. Get a rainjacket, though.
-Your health teacher is wrong when she says that girls' bodies are dirty.
-Dig your heels in. Relax your shoulders. Exhale.
4 comments:
I wish someone would have written you that letter when you were 13.
Brilliant as always! A profoundly lovely letter on a lovely autumn day by the lovely, beautiful, and talented goddess of the e-quill. I think your younger self, DID get the letter. After all, who says time flows one way?
That troll of a health teacher should be publicly flogged! Such blasphemy! The female form is inherently divine; after all, the first (and most level-headed) religions worshipped the divinity of woman.
-Punkass/psnd1969
What a fine kind and loving thing to do for your sweet self. Good good good.
Beautiful.
While you can't change your past, you have all the say in your present and future. I wonder if there are any girls out there now who could use a letter like that. You can make a difference for someone you don't even know.
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