The summer before my junior year in high school, I went on a trip to Washington D.C. On one of the last days there, we were instructed to write a letter to ourselves and that one day a few years from then we would be getting said letter in the mail. I was told to write things that I learned from my trip and stuff that I wanted to tell my future self. This inspired me to write the article. A letter to my older self, this is what I want to remind myself in ten years from now.

Dear Makalae,

My hopes are held high for what will happen in the next ten years. We will be 31 years old. By then, I would hope to have earned my teaching degree since I have only finished a year of college so far. I do plan to enroll sooner than later. But right now I need the money. Teaching kids how to love reading and writing. Whether it be in middle school or high school, I'm sure I would love it anyways.

It has been a hard month and four days. Changing from Dollar General to Goodwill literally overnight. I hate moving. This was the third time moving in with Liz. I hope we cut that out. Please, whatever it takes, don't make us move over and over again. I know we(Me&you) can do it! Nothing is impossible. I have proved that this year. You can do whatever you put your mind too. It may not happen the way we want it, but it will happen for the better. Things will get better, don't give up. I know you, you are basically me. But I would hope you are the wiser version of me! Haha! Don't stop believing in yourself. That is one of the most important things for me.

I want you to remember that you deserve love. You don't deserve anything less than the best, I promise. At the moment I still haven't had a boyfriend(I don't have time for no one but myself right now anyways), which I would hope I will be engaged or married by 30, plus maybe my first child is on the way or something close to that. I hope we found an amazing person to spend the rest of our lives with. And please don't settle for second best. With having been through what we have, we deserve the best. We need someone who loves us for who we are. I hope I find it.

This letter is full of 'I hope's. This is what I picture to happen in ten years. I'm no psychic, I can't tell what will happen, yet I can hope.

I hope we have been able to travel. It is one of those things that I won't back out of. I want to set foot in all seven continents. It probably took awhile to cover all the continents, it was worth it most likely. Who did we meet? What kind of experiences can we take and pass on from our travels?

Am I a published author? Is our name in bookstores? I hope so. It is my dream to have my books published. I hope ten years from now that we still have that dream.

I could go on and on with questions that God only knows the answers too until it happens. The main reason I'm writing is because I want to remind my older self-things that I don't ever want to forget. Stuff that I have learned from an early age.

Before I end, I just want to say that even if we are married, have kids, and teach, that it is okay to keep believing in the magic. Don't take nothing for granted, keep getting excited over the little things because that is what makes us , Makalae. We are who we are because of the way we see things and that is one of the things that I hope that never changes.

Your Younger Self,

Makalae