Hello me.

I know you were planning to write this for some time, but for one reason or another you've only been able to find the right words now. Or at least, you think you do. I know that like everyone we know, this is not how we expected this year to go.

A crippling lockdown. A pandemic that has taken so many lives and has permanently changed those who are still here fighting. A period that has evoked a long overdue opportunity to set the systems right. An election that will, for all intensive purposes, define a generation. A future that is even more unclear than when the year started.

I can't tell you that I'm speaking to you from when these crises have, at least for a moment, died down. I can't guarantee anything will be even close to what we expected them to be.

But then again, when has anything turned out to be what we thought it would?

I just know this: you need to keep fighting. You need to keep the people you care about close, stick to what you feel is right, and trust in yourself just as much you trust in others. But ultimately, do what you can to treasure every moment of the experience along the way.

I'll see you on the other side, my friend.