Dear future residents of 10 Pine Terrace East,

I am leaving you with one of the most important possessions of my childhood — my treehouse. In and on this wooden fortress, I learned how to climb, swing, slide and most importantly I learned the limitless power of my own imagination. Over the years I have transformed this hunk of planks, plastic and screws into a spaceship, a volcano, a medieval castle and everything else in between.

Sadly, the ability to find hours upon hours of pure joy by playing on something like a treehouse is a skill that seems to be disappearing these days. The endless stream of games technology provides makes playing on something like this seem obsolete, but let me tell you something, everyone could not be more wrong.

Sitting inside mindlessly playing games will teach you nothing about the world. However, having to learn how to transform something simple, like a treehouse, into a plethora of possibilities will be an invaluable skill that you will cherish for the rest of your life. When you get older and begin to find that others around you are constantly bored with life and have no idea how to simply have fun, you will be able to look at the world with a unique and creative perspective. I give you my personal guarantee that this skill will help make the tough times better and the good times the best they can be.

I cannot believe that 14 years have almost passed since I first got my treehouse and honestly it always felt like I would have it forever. Time is a terrifying thing, you may feel that the world is slowing down around you as you dangle upside on the monkey bars, but it's not. Time is always ticking ahead and it is imperative that you make the most of the short time you have a child.

While I will always miss being able to forget about the world and play on my treehouse, I can take solace in two things. One, that the lessons this treehouse has taught me will be with me forever. And two, that some lucky young children will be able to play on it growing up and hopefully learn just how amazing having an unstoppable imagination can be. Please love this playground the way I have. Take it from a young adult who is still refusing to grow up, you will not regret it.

Sincerely,

Harrison Chalnick