age gracefully

Kelly tagged me for a meme here it is.


This is me writing to me when I was 13 with the knowledge of the future at 33.

You will hate grade 8, your friend’s drift and change. You will keep some and lose some. Lori will remain a constant in your life and Russel will still be your friend today. The bubble gum he gave you in Mr. Wur’s English class solidified your relationship and you know deep down you will always be friends. Grade 10 will be one of your most memorable years right up to Grade 12. You still will talk to most of your friends from high school. You will continue to be a comedian. You will go to weddings and baby showers and remain in the town you grew up in.

When you are 16 you will get really sick with strep throat and tonsillitis. You will be hospitalized for a month, you will feel horrible and then get sicker with abscesses on your throat and continue your stay at the hospital. You will always remember the night you went back to the hospital and the fear that you might not wake up the next day. It will be the first time you challenge your mom on how ill you are and in the end you will return to school stronger with the realization you just had the first fight of your life.

At 18, you will lose a childhood friend in a drowning accident. You head off to college for the first time on your own, complete your ECE and then move on to another degree that you don’t finish. Don’t worry about it. You run a daycare centre and then go back to school to become a teacher. You enjoy all of it and realize that you were always meant to work with students. You will watch the sweetest boy you ever met pass away at age 4. It will stun you and break your heart.

You will travel to Japan, Australia, Belize, different parts of the U.S. and love every second of it. You will meet interesting people and some you will never forget. They are new friends; some are lovers and will always have a special place in your heart. You will be blessed with unbelievable close friends and their children. You will be surrounded on most days with support from colleagues and on most nights you will go to sleep knowing that you are loved.

You will come out at 30 something, and find a world that you never imagined. You will hear the fear in your parents voice and worries from your siblings. It will all be fine even if it was a bit stressful. You will fish almost every year with your brother Jeff and you will watch your sister become a wife and a mother. You will spoil the shit out of your nephews and niece. You will wait patiently to become a parent. You will have heartbreak and you will hurt others not intentionally but you will.

Every minute you get older you will become stronger, you will laugh and cry. You will freak out on some people you love. You will realize your mistakes and try to do better.

You will be content at 33 and realize you are ok. That life does not just get easier it becomes more challenging and you will seek out the balance.