A letter from the past | Consuming Happiness Spring 2023 Letter to the Future

Yo P, how you doing? Man this is crazy look how far you’ve come. Nobody ever wanted to give you anything, you took the cards that were dealt and turned out to be a great young man. Kept your head down and worked, even through all the pain and hardships you never detoured from your route. Not having a dad around should’ve broke you but you found love from people who filled that void of not having a dad around. Your not perfect but for the most part you’ve always kept it 100 with yourself. You protect your friends and family like no one else. Loyalty means everything to you and in hard times you’ve remained solid. The humbleness you have exerted has been nice to watch. Your going to be the loudest in the room or the one with the most energy, you just do you the best way you can. With all the violence and drug use around you, it never attracted you I don’t know how you did it honestly. I’ve always thought in my head that you were special and god had plans for you that you couldn’t even imagine. Being raised by all women in your family made you very open minded and tough because you just didn’t have any other choice. The love you hold for your mother is nothing like I’ve ever seen she’s your best friend, your rock, and you’d do ANYTHING for her. You owe her life debt that you won’t be able to pay off that’s just how much she’s done for you. From getting up every morning at 5 am to get to school, to staying with a friend to be able to go to school you’ve took everything given to you and didn’t complain. Your work ethic is crazy my guy. You really want to perfect your craft in anyway you can. All the workouts you’ve had of course haven’t been perfect but you’ve attacked the day every time you’ve stepped out. I know the ***** of your aunt and uncle hit hard but if they could see you now they would be beyond proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished in this short period of time. The crazy thing about you is, is that your just getting started you haven’t even peaked yet. I remember when you were really young and you’d cry all time and wine, now you a grown man with dreads and tattoos. Tattoos are something you love, it gives you a chance to articulate yourself. It’s art for you.You’ve done almost everything your supposed to get where you are now. You’re actually living out your biggest dream you’re a D-1 colegent athlete. Your very much god fearing and you know that you wouldn’t be here without him. You’ve been taught to stand on your own morales and make decisions smart for you and not for anyone else. One thing I love about you is that your not scared to be by your lonesome, you embrace it. Your happy when your alone and your happy with people all in all you can adapt to the situation no matter what it is. You have a deeper understanding to music for some reason it’s like a safety blanket that you can run to at anytime. You always have at least a AirPod in your ear wherever you go, you just love it and I love that about you. Honestly bro your very old school I don’t know where you get it from but you’re a very old soul. You literally have friends that call you unc, I’ve never seen anything like it. Sometimes you let your thoughts get to you and anxiety beat you up, but you’ve always pulled through when ever it counted. Never have you allowed anyone to stand in the way of your aspirations, and never will. When someone stands in your way of getting what you want, you become incredibly ruthless; it's not ideal, but you have to have it. The since of humor you have is second to none you can make just about anyone laugh and bright up any room you walk into. The most picky eater ever but that’s what makes you, you and you shouldn’t ever change that. Now I will say you can be pretty emotionless and most people might not think that’s a good thing but I love it about you. Not every situation calls for emotions. At the end of the day, you've developed a lot since you were that young lad from Atlanta, Georgia. At the young age of 18, you have done a lot, and I am so proud of you. Hopefully in 2026 I’ve made it to the NFL and achieved that maximum happiness that I want to be at. The sky is the limit for you, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead.