Those 10 Years went FAST!

Peaceful right?

Hey Superhero! As I write this, you're about to turn 27 in a few days. According to my plan, by this age you should have been engaged to your best friend, editing Glamour Magazine and sipping colorful martinis at posh nightspots in Manhattan. None of that happened. I hope it never happened. That's not really who you are. You spent a long time trying to fit yourself into the box of what you thought you wanted, when really, that wouldn't have made you as happy as you liked to waste your time imagining it would. Now it's April 22, 2021. You're an energetic, accomplished 37 year old who dresses well, albeit a bit eccentrically, but not over the top. I hope you're writing. A lot. Way more than you were 10 years ago. You've published a book of poems, haven't you? I bet you're in the New Yorker all the time. You're probably a Pulitzer Prize winner or poet laureate of the world. I hope you're still riding your motorcycle (and that it's bigger and faster now and also that it's a personal spacecraft!). I hope you've traveled all over the world, writing, meeting people and experimenting with your life. Do we have a house in Spain? I hope we have a house in Spain. If we don't, get on that, please. I hope you finished your 30 Before 30, are nearly finished your 40 Before 40 and have written your 50 Before 50. I hope none of those lists repeated any items. I'm excited to see what you come up with and how 10 years has changed your perspective on life and what you want out of it. I hope you do nice things for other people every day. I hope Muldoon is still around. He'll be almost 12. Harley would be almost 19 now... I hope you know she loved you and that she never thought you failed her or yourself. It was silly to ever think that and I don't know why or how she got connected to all that pain, but she loved you in a way that was supernatural for animals to even feel. I hope you got over feeling like you disappointed her. You didn't. Ever. I hope it's been 9 years since you've even thought about him. And I'm sorry for making you think about him now. I bet Harley forgot all about him. He was never the man he led you believe he was and he certainly wasn't deserving of all that love and admiration you gave him. I hope he's happy with wherever he is in life, but I also hope you don't know whether he is or not because I hope you haven't spoken in... almost 12 years now. I hope you have no idea who I'm talking about! I hope you still play video games unapologetically and wear heels regularly. I hope you laugh all the time with friends new and old who nourish your life with love and culture and new ideas. It's probably as weird for you to imagine me, your old self, as it is for me to imagine you, myself a decade from now. I can't even see a month into the future! Anyway, stay awesome. Let go and take what life gives you. Take action to get what it doesn't. See you in another 10 years! Alison

Epilogue

2 days later

Hi Alison,

I was not expecting this today. You sure had a vision of our future! I'm happy to report that the best parts all came true. Not without pain...

Gahdn)ec vghirynete you ddi moes uhh(gto yuo utb eiiirstrop it! rtgues,lg got dna tnwdae oyu. .
.
Veil tmahnaant ni we od. Hda ebsaeuc hsoep to csaiopus alvee uyo uynns delvi neo you kebor ttuhhgo yuo rhate ni het veah nda atmpetnra olst gunidr ciyt dan evlae sjtu rgda inudst we slcokb eht tatperanm a hdrceas to hte fmor oury oyu aemtrk adn asrdem whne oslhco - oyur a oegsgr,ou pleuco het uyo had. Mlsoat btuoa do tsill vyree but itknh orysr, uoy ady mi' ihm. Htaevn' angai to ihm slilt pnskeo you. Tihw he's rermaid nwo ybba a. It fuuter yuo neeb botua ouy rwndeo ni a lkei evha olt twha lwodu iwht htat. Mhi earsy to atth enspd oywrth 10 the oprev yuo tasl ouy rwee ot ntiryg. You swyaal rewe. Ouy aebemc reew, evol soomene ltuyr uyo who eb to updro on vrepo that anc gornw fo ubt juyneor dna ouy tgthohu hmi tauob eh. Uyo os podur be os wodlu. So you urpod era. .
.
You tol wreit a oerm. And a we a?)lways ,amibsuoi(t you voeln but a itwre kcor eavh ptorey nda r'eenwt eparo sertatd. Ubt islpdub,eh ton tsill olga yte sti' a. ,amrloug utb a we'll thta did htta emda kile ocutn rof fo oen,c uoy fro leactiny)clh (ehyt werot ernve yuo slhbupi ao,mrulg idd uoy sa arerec irfbe odsuedn gemrhtain imssbnosiu wriet a a so. Xetse,di onitslcnug kgonirw no a loaics in taph a in erevn etch yampocn ranitmegk rfo eamdi dgimneai esimasv oyrue' ouy. Ti ovel ouy. And uroy crylbiiend aer eppoutrisv ckswreroo smtar. Het mrof - uyro fo nratpaetm rwok dsie by yruo own oundoml aeuebcs yuo frvteioa cleap mpidc,ane you gte teh htwi to - truaaynsc lcal rouy. .
.
Uoardn umloodn lilts si. Itsh eb semrmu taeb eh rnecac liwl 12 adn. Nam ldo the liveebe na ppeole on n'tca serett s'he. A pppyu dna ofr slilt teh eregyn nioepaturt spthepia in ednoohrbgiho eh iebng eht has gdo. Erlhay seasdp ni ryae tals crmha. 18 aws was adn she darye ehs. In ifylam evga she oevl ctsa dna hoter umch eht so lal eoivtdul hte. Tsuj gnlo ese cneo ehdasr adn ydoeams ot acbk fomr dliev moremaost it evmo ync hre ryou map,rantte het rzcya oyu neo ekam ehs twih uyo to iton you pmidesor hre uhoegn nwo sklcob nad ou'yd. Zycar is't. Lhraye rhnsoibeg erh asp,eds nad tme odg i het of noe refat. . . Dneam lehyra. Yuo atht fllfiul was resmoip hse. .
.
(a ew ylcrotomec eth an)stk!h teh lsod in no i?ytc? kibe. No eth sapin ni reew' ndcoo rgnkwoi ltils. Riye,bfl hegu uoy had hosclo in taht ouy tath belviee on ot ew fi guy got hcurs ghih madrei,r eht nca. Hatt fo eb eh ersyfoul uyo asiuevb less out udertn in thna nad a to yrea tuo an colalicho dlelpu. Cenis otn ta oodg kpigcni elhtayh nrstpaolisehi ryev 'yuero nsutdi. O'yuve uyo'er htta ndgagee eim!ts bnee ehpipra wya n,wo amnd eehtr tub vree lesgni anht. A teopvpirus wya reov hwo avhe yuo nwnok eouvy' ifendsr rae fo mrof nlerdiibce rpoug ni rvene lla an. .
.
Nda ni atledsoi nad adh juts dmlouno aitr,nunaeq hgotwr deep saclieeply elhwi atsl het nimmsee in uyo reay eou'yv ,gaeinlh. Ieodv eomr rmates teltli plya meoyn oyu iznamag mkea orsaiuv agmse dna a wen sgame met ittwh,c it on vnee still heva - hrgotuh you godni ethm nfderis nad nyteifilde. Etsrss essl do uoy ynjeo fra fo dan eorm yuo thwa. .
.
05 nda cutbek ;05 a vahe 001 ew oatlms lgon lsit tnah msite ermo a haev griongw ew bfeero. Tlielt igecxnti swa ads adn a 37 gutrnin. Kile rae okol bgi yuo be esrt adrsc a yflmia fo lkei a much fro dan ti klei cna the lal lwli lslit so sndpe mlestsnoie su ni utb itllet dot'esn ti so feil seefl gdoin elft, ovre aevterwh ouy eth het it res'teh. Atht ifnish koob. Go spina ot. Istiv tnceitsnno the all. Ilfe a kepe no itnhuatce cna maide uroy you lscioa gdion do you it lal acbuees uobta laogn yuo've eenb nligiv hwtvraee !uoy dan anwt ellaoypactigol llfu enbig uldbi myuioncmt. .
.
Eht ew edhs' praptde tlel hse dna arededm atht ayre ywa us wtno vaeh oatub ihewl wshi i 71 dol lfte flei slmla tsrore os oludc go in kbca hse. .
.
I oevl yuo. Ma lguafetr os i uoy rfo. Aevg ernev ouy pu. Ouy tpek puinghs. Ehfserl oews ,helrbori hosieun rae nylo hwo a rvvsidue rstyo soem uyo it thsi dan ot uoy seusscc. Ggion nejyo it tavewehr on ngiog cmuh kcik ormf to ot here we od os wee'r dna ou,t ssa 'ewre. Uenotnrec yaw as,lway as fo eth ew di,kn no eb rgonfigiv adn ainptet lwil we dan hsote. .
.
Voe,l.
By ial ali e(w o)nw og.

This user has written an update to this letter.To see what they wrote, please

Press ← and → on your keyboard to move between letters

Write new comment

Load more comments