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...

Etghyvrnie t!i idd you rriieotsip tog seom c)dehgna hoth(ug etnwad utb rtgulse,g uyo and yuo. .
.
Do ni eliv mahnatnta ew. Atrhe eht cusopasi adn ealev tmeatanrp copelu lobcsk dha adn you yuo atepranmt nhwe tsdniu rtkema tlso ytic veha rmasde oyur dlevi hespo ooguserg, uoy dan a het keorb uoy rasehdc hcloos vleae you ot just ceeubas dha unirdg a synnu in - we ttughoh yrou hte noe romf eth rdga ot. Do rrys,o itlls dya tuaob ktihn eyrev mi' imh tlsmoa btu uyo. Him aevhn't niaga sillt uyo ot pnokes. Hitw now she' aerdirm a abyb. Tlo ueufrt ebne a whta luwdo it in uoy ouy ikel eahv wthi uobta taht wrendo. Oyu the lats epnsd hmi ot eewr nyritg rovpe ot 10 wtyorh eaysr ouy htta. Ewer asawly yuo. Otthguh be cbeaem fo dprou him yrult oyu vleo how uoy youernj w,ree cna rngwo eenmsoo ttah otaub btu eh repvo to uyo on dan. Odwul dopru be os so yuo. Era purod so yuo. .
.
You wreti reom a lto. Uyo olnve a triwe ertopy ocrk repoa adn ntrwe'e aevh ardtset and tub usbii(a,mot s)w?alya a we. A ubt goal eyt llist si't pdeiulh,bs ont. Ttha a hte(y enevr rof edodnsu gao,mrul for fibre os edam bpuslih leki oyu did a nc,oe of grmu,ola a tiwer amrhteing wle'l snosiibmus you ecrrea but sa yclhen)ictal nucto htta ddi uoy werto. Gnclnoutis mirentgak eaimdnig esxd,tie orf evner cmnoayp ni you iemda ni a no veasism a coaisl 'oreyu ehtc taph grnwiok. Uoy vloe ti. Ouyr bildnyerci koresrcow upritposev arsmt dan rae. - idse fo - yoru rfom ndmeic,pa ycaruanst okwr odmulno to the tiwh csuabee roeiafvt ouy lcla het trepamatn by oyu apelc egt yruo yruo now. .
.
Lslti ourdna uonlmod si. Enracc nad shti eb lilw seumrm he 12 tbea. Iebveel an n'tac on the estetr loeppe nam lod e'hs. In sillt sah yppup rof dgo het rhhonooebgdi orueptniat a satephip yrgnee he het adn gbien. Camhr eary tsal pdaess ni halyer. She and hes swa 18 aeyrd swa. Lal mhuc teh astc os hse the in leov otreh afiyml eagv dna tulievod. Aedysmo oenghu mkae ti bcka uoy ehr cyn ongl oitn you odyu' rmof yuo ujst ldive tasormeom oecn ot nad itwh re,pmatatn yrzca reh yoru heasdr ksoblc iroepdsm onw noe vmeo ese she and ot teh. Rczya tsi'. Erh odg aterf hgnersobi noe het fo asdps,e nda met i ryehal. . . Rlheay mnaed. Ouy thta swa ullffli soiprme she. .
.
Hte )sknth!a (a ci??ty ew ni keib losd het mcceroltyo no. Lslti oodcn wonikgr ni iapns teh no w'eer. No guy we eirdam,r fi taht ttah hgeu got ihgh hte csuhr ouy to uyo nac holsoc e,iblfyr ni dah eebielv. Nath na oclahoilc be dutenr lludpe a in tou nda ufrlsoey of to eyar ttah uot eh lsse oyu uisvbae. Iecns iphtoasensrli elyahht otn rvey reouy' cpinkig tsnuid ta ogdo. W,on nadm ahnt rehppia 'ouevy thta sme!ti 'yoeur teehr way tub siegnl reev enbe gaedgne. An awy prugo uoy rlencibied ear 'yevou ohw vrene mofr ervo all nnkow veha ni a of fsinedr ppverotisu. .
.
Dha ni ujts moluond and iemmsen ni iltsadeo atsl pede yovue' ayer eht uyo ginlae,h wlieh quntriea,an allipcyees adn rwgoth. Rmeo diong hwi,tct pyla yuo no it nda emt staemr eilenyidtf aevh ewn kame agamizn ltlite vnee a emgsa menyo measg uraivos and irfedns dieov - rhhtgou oyu ethm sltil. You hwta far eorm fo lses rstess nad nyejo uyo do. .
.
A lostma veah a ew 001 50 wrgigno athn logn we 50; tisl more ferebo eahv etbukc dan tsiem. Asw ttleli a igteicxn nda 73 tiugnnr dsa. Slfee tills wvhrtaee yuo left, os yaimlf gib ltosmenesi kool ni it ongid liek us tbu so ilwl ti uoy tlitle dpnes klei a ehr'tes fiel ear eb for rste humc cna ilke het and eth revo sdacr eth it o'dnset lla a fo. Book ttha ihinfs. Og sipan to. Svtii all teh cnoetnisnt. You it lidbu autbo bnee wnat flei inymcmotu eepk do iengb on a ilingv nac oganl uyo yuov'e clltoalayiopge aidem llfu uoy! ucaseeb sialoc treewvah goidn ruyo lla htuncatei nad. .
.
Haev old yera and we atth hte baotu ltle dreamde dshe' 71 ckab hes ni shwi udcol ltef hliwe lasml go deapprt hse so lief otwn rroest ywa i su. .
.
I you lveo. Am so orf you erfuatgl i. Gvae up nvree you. Kept uyo gisnhpu. ,eilobhrr csuescs ynlo ewso ehinous nad owh ystro euvrvdis it oyu a moes ouy to heserfl isth aer. Wee'r ,otu od ikkc ti nda we ot whetraev ofrm muhc joney on ass ggion gnoig w'eer so ot erhe. On ogirvgifn sywa,la teh of aneptti nad n,dik lilw we we sa way osteh eb reuneotcn dna. .
.
Ov,le.
By ail og (ew ail onw).

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