Dear 30-year-old self,

I hope this letter finds you well, and by well I mean happy and healthy. I hope you are living a meaningful life you are proud of, and even more, I hope you are living life to it’s fullest. I can only assume you are a teacher by now, in the school of your dreams. It is probably far from the little town of Galion, but hopefully you haven’t forgotten that quiet little place you called home for twenty plus years. I hope you have several years of coaching under your belt by now: basketball and perhaps tennis. Maybe by now you have even found that special athlete whose life you have impacted forever, just like that special coach did for you once upon a time. I hope your Close Call trilogy you wrote in high school is published by now and that you have written many masterpieces since. I also hope you are still a muscular, weight lifter that can deadlift 300 lbs by now. To complete your dream, I hope that you still ghost hunt in your free time. You used to love doing that!

You are probably still on the short side, but that is okay. You should be used to that by now; you have always been small but mighty. But, I can only hope you have finally settled down; that you are married with a family, or at least in the process of it. You always wanted to name your kids after presidents, whose names you memorized in the third grade. I hope your husband is the man of your dreams, that he is loving and sweet. I hope he has a stable job that he loves, but not as much as he loves spending time with you and the kids. He might even be way out of your league. I hope, however, that you are more confident in yourself, especially in your appearance. I hope your husband sees that in you as well. Your kids, I imagine, will be talented and intelligent just like yourself. You should not need to worry about them, even though I know you probably do. I’m sure you lose many hours of sleep worrying about everything; you always have. I hope by now you own that mustang you always wanted. The orange one with black stripes. Maybe it is a convertible too. But, I also hope that you had enough money left to purchase a beautiful home to raise a family. It might not be huge because you are probably not rich, but I do hope that it is indeed a home and not simply a house.

Most importantly, I truly hope you have kept in touch with the people who meant the most to you. Family of course, and your high school besties and maybe a few college buddies too and all the adults you long admired. I can only pray that they are all doing well. You have a family and they probably all have families now, but I hope that if you don’t see them everyday, that you at least speak to them frequently. These people helped you through the roughest times and steered you towards your passions. They changed your life in more ways than you could count.

I dearly hope that my thirty year old self is living out her dreams. I hope she has a growing family and the life she imagined. Most of all, I hope she kept in contact with the people who made her smile everyday and helped her get through these teenage road bumps. You’ve always kept a small circle and I am sure it is still that way, but I hope that you have kept all the right people. No matter what you are today, know that I am proud of who you have become.

Love,