A letter from 18-year-old me to 13-year-old me.
Hey 13-year-old Alleigh,
It's you (me?) (us?) from the ~future~. I'm 18 now. I know, take that in! Read that sentence again - it's okay, you have time. I'm 18 now. We did it, we made it. Remember how you were concerned with whether or not you'd make it to 14? Then 15? And 16? And so on? Well we're 18 now, and we were strong and we made it. And we're in college. Again, I know!! Take that in! You never thought we'd get this far and now, I'm sitting in a college library, on a college campus, at St. Olaf college where we live. And go to college. And things are still hard (harder, even) but dude we're still alive and kicking. Look around you. You have made such amazing friends already, at only 13! And you'll lose people, but PAUSE - THAT IS OKAY! Because you know what? You still have amazing friends, and you are going to make even better friends and make more friends and forge deeper friendships in college too. This is all cliche, but it's all true. And I know you're probably wondering, okay so you're 18 so that means we're cured and happy?!?! Actually uh...no. But the fact that we're alive means we have developed some kick ass coping mechanisms and we're able to try to be better, that we are stronger than we thought we were. And you stayed true to yourself, your hair is still not brown and your piercings and tattoos are numerous and your family fucking loves you!
So little me, I just wanted to write this letter to you so that you have proof that you can do this. And that you're doing your best right now and even if it doesn't feel like much, it's enough!! You're enough for grown up you.
Hopefully I can write a similar letter from 25- or 30-year old me to 18-year-old me. Hopefully we stay the best we can possibly manage to be. Love you, little me (and thanks for listening to Pearl Jam ;-) ).
