A letter from July 12th, 2020

Dear Future Me, How are things going? There's a lot of things that I hope for you, but I guess I'm not the best person to predict things without bias. Now that you're officially 21, I hope you don't drink. Just remember your whole health plan. Did you get into UPenn? Or even decide you wanted to go? You better know how to swim by now, or else I'm kind of disappointed. I'll give you a pass if you still don't know how to ride a bike, though, because no one does that anymore. We're in the midst of coronavirus, and it's pretty crazy. At the same time as being boring. I'll be so grateful when I can just leave the house again. I hope at your point, there's a vaccine, and it's not a concern. Nowadays, I'm starting to think it's never going to really go away. It'll either end up like the bubonic plague or the flu. I feel like I'm slowly beginning to build up my confidence, so I hope you're doing well in that regard. By the way, you don't need to be dating. Remember, a few years ago, when you decided you wouldn't date until you're out of college? Not that bad of a plan, whatever the conformity side of your brain says. I wrote something on a little piece of paper and slipped it behind the old soccer photo with Alex B in it in your photo album. I had intended to give you a full-blown riddle in order to find the paper, but I decided it's not worth it. I'd still like to make a time capsule, though. Maybe you should go rummage through your room. You never know. But, basically, I hope things are going well. I know that by the time you read this, you won't know what I'm doing, what I'm thinking. That's pretty scary to think about, huh? But let's not get into the existential, a-quarter-of-my-life-is-already-gone mindset. Let's think about the fact that in 2020, you're sitting in your room in boredom, wishing Ethan would come play Overwatch with you, and in 2025, you're hopefully spending a wonderful summer either at home or abroad, after three years of eventful and educational college. Of course, however much I encourage you to make friends and date, please don't flunk out of college. Present me would be ashamed. Get those six-digit paychecks. Anyway, there isn't much more to say. Is Cole well-behaved? Is... Is Sarah doing okay? Do you still talk to anyone from high school? I mean, hopefully all of those are yes's, but I won't know. I kind of wish I could get your response. That would be cool as ****. Alas, time travel has yet to be invented. Heck, I don't want it to be invented. But that's a debate for another day. Respectfully yours, yourself. P.S. Hang in there. Even though you're flawed, you have all good intentions, and lots of people say you're a sweet, beautiful person with a bright future ahead of you. No matter how often it feels like you're on a downwards decline towards failure and *****, things aren't so morbid. Even if these words seem shallow, remember they're coming from yourself, so you can believe them.