A letter from December 19th, 2020

Dear FutureMe, December 17, 2020 Dear 20-year-old Layan, Hey! It’s you from 10th grade. Look at how much you have grown! Oh my God you’re hot, like are you Kendall Jenner? Well, you are now reading this from a 14-year-old’s perspective. I just dealt with the hardest yet most memorable year in my life, and I’ll tell you something, YIKES! Everything from acne to Dad, enjoy reading this and don’t take the life you have for granted. I am still interested in medicine, in fact, I am taking the Biomed classes at school. I love food, shopping, and hugging mom and dad. I also like receiving good gifts! Remember, food, family, and school, the basic 3 elements that keep you alive. Make sure that they are still there, maybe give Mom a call. Do that right now, maybe call Dad too. Because you probably forgot by now, my daily routine right now is to wake up, wash my face and brush my crooked teeth, have a PB sandwich for breakfast, go to class and worry about all the work I have, then sit on my phone and eat leftover spaghetti and meatballs, get dressed to go get a milkshake and pizza with mom and Yara, shower, bicker with Yara a bit, watch more TV, throw a ball at the wall, and finally, kick Yara’s butt in candy count, because I will always have more candy than her. I want you to remember the achievements you’ve made this year, like making the softball team when you had a million in one chance of making it, getting a FRICKEN 4.0 GPA IN THE FIRST TRIMESTER OF SOPHOMORE YEAR, and gaining 2 extra pounds since 5th grade, like seriously, well done! Also, well done on kicking Yara’s butt in the bike race in summer. Thank you for taking care of yourself and talking with Mom when you need to. I am still afraid of getting broken and used another time, so choose your friends carefully, and the smaller the circle the better. I am scared of failing in life, more than ever, because now I have all the time in the world since I’m at home. Be careful of those snakes in your life, they have venom. More than ever before, I’m scared of getting sick. Especially during this time, I don’t want to get weaker or risk myself to getting COVID at all costs. But, I will sacrifice if it means normalcy. I am hopeful that we might return to our normal lives soon, since there is a vaccine now. I want to go and visit Alexandria and stay in my home a little, maybe go to Saudi just so I can see my old friends and do the things that I did as a young kid. I am hopeful that my life might return to somewhat normal, maybe Dad might move here so that our life can be complete once again. If you are crying right now, don’t. I want you to face what was once reality. I hope that you are still focused on your academics, and that you still have good food everyday. I also hope that you are taking care of yourself even amidst the studying, and that you are listening to good music. I hope that you got a really good job, or at least are part of a paid internship program in the hospital, that way you get to experience everything medicine! On the other hand, I don’t wish that you live through a pandemic, or that you have to be separated from Dad for more than 1 month. I hope that Mom and Dad are living peacefully and that they don’t have to worry about me constantly nagging for something new. At the same time, I wish that they eat the food you make even if they think it’s disgusting, because miss gurl, your food is DA BOMB. Some advice, go get a box of tissues, and never give up. You will become a doctor, MD, and make a hell ton of money. Don’t give a crap on what people say, because they won’t know better than you. Now I want to know: Have you met your soulmate? How many kids are you planning to have? Have your food and music preferences changed? How has your appearance and clothing style changed? I want to know, are you still in charge of your sister, even if you moved away? Where do you live? Who are your friends? I want to know EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING. From one badass to the next, Little Layan