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...

Emos tub ti! nad piriroetis eervitgyhn nadtwe you hdn)aecg ddi ghto(hu uyo ogt ouy eurgsgt,l. .
.
Liev do atatnhanm ew ni. Laeve pehos uryo atntrpmea ni ycti gnriud the ndiuts mreatapnt ouy - ssicopau sehdrac uoy uoy sadmer ewhn tujs yoru elvae osohcl dan hte aehv and ouy a tols teh eno we mfro ohuthtg dgra osogur,eg eth clpoeu beaseuc a ot ynsun ot martke robek idevl ksclob hda rthea had ouy dna. Imh yuo iltsl m'i tub inthk od day vyree s,orry samolt btauo. Nth'vea ngaai to lltsi ouy mih knopse. Baby a twih areridm wno e'sh. Enbe a in uufetr odnewr lwudo elik yuo ti yuo vaeh outba wtha htta iwht tlo. Eerw orpve hmi riyntg teh erysa to yuo lats taht 01 yrwtho espdn you to. Uoy swalay ewre. R,wee ejyunro eh mih uoy wrogn ecaemb on btu tath uoy ubtoa oelv to thtuhgo how nac osemoen fo dan eb utylr duopr ouy oepvr. Os eb dlwou rpduo os you. Rdopu so aer uyo. .
.
A otl omer ierwt you. Nr'ewet uoy tpoery (mutib,ioas tirwe evnlo dan a?syla)w and a heva raedtts a rokc ew eapro but. Yte tslli a laog ont but t'is pbh,isdule. Atihnremg wiret tub rfo y(eht ofr htta etowr evnre eikl udnsdoe rgm,alou notcu uoal,mgr so th)anyclelci obuisssmin idd reerca ddi a ouy eibfr yuo ttha ilhbpsu a cne,o elwl' as fo emad ouy a. Eei,tdxs for tsnuiolgcn eamid ni rwkinog no yaompnc aicslo uoy in a enver dgimiane a ahpt anietkrgm ssiaevm e'ryuo etch. Evol it uyo. Orvptepisu strma bdnceiiylr rouy kerocrwso rae and. Ruoy the by ot idse uyo teg mouodln nepiam,cd oyru - aeebscu hitw fomr the fo afitevro yuo - capel apematrnt own call rouy rokw tucnasray. .
.
Oulonmd stlil aoudnr si. Eb beta eh mmsuer itsh 12 ilwl nda rccnea. No dlo nma evilebe antc' rsttee ehs' an eht elppeo. Giebn god eyegrn the rof he and teh ni etsippha ironhehoobdg uyppp sah tsill etpoanrtui a. Dsapes mcrah lhyaer stla eary in. Was aeyrd asw 18 dan she ehs. Hes gaev all hucm in evlo ovuldeit the os atcs hoert lmaify eht dna. Abkc the crayz morf sutj move you tion cyn omydase heougn edhsar demspior it yoru one veild and logn ot to hre uyo hes and with uoy own noce remstooma bkolsc ehr ody'u kmea ees ,nprmataet. Czayr is't. Fo odg oen isbeorhng i sd,epas elyarh nda emt eth tfera rhe. . . Ednam elyahr. Ullffli esh saw atht uoy mesipro. .
.
??tyic ibke the hte cotreclomy losd in we (a no ksanht!). Rw'ee on ni spina owrikgn cndoo het isllt. Uoy can ghue atht ot eth no eeblvei that otg ouy ew ni damir,er cshru ihhg lsooch febiry,l fi had guy. Oerulysf fo uoy he an nda a naht in ldpelu lses besviua eb eary uot coolihcla ot entrdu uto htat. Not youre' tsundi ervy cenis pcgikin ipiorsaslhten ta ogdo hlyathe. Been eerv dnam htta oevuy' tnha there enlsig ,nwo but ipparhe ayw setm!i engedag u'yroe. Fo knnwo ibdlnecrie are evha ouprg you edsrnfi ni lla who reov uvy'oe erevn rovsueppit a an yaw mfro. .
.
And ni edep uolmodn le,gnhai ni teh adh orhtgw ryea epeiscllya 'ovyue steldaoi a,euqirnnta ouy ujts ltas iwhle adn inemsem. Maseg tlsil alyp etm avhe keam no thitcw, iedlniyfte raosviu ti rastme nad iongd ievdo a even - meyon eorm urhogth nziagam uoy hmet and llitte seagm you rdsnefi wen. You do eorm uoy of ssster eojyn and ssle raf thwa. .
.
Ew heva aehv a ew 50 groignw rbfeeo mreo anth gnlo kutbce mloats 010 5;0 ilst esimt dna a. Itxcinge aws nngriut nad ielttl sda a 37. Spned a olok gbi leki oyu uchm of teh ehset'r ti oyu isonelsetm cna eb layfmi seefl aer kiel ti ti os e,ftl teh roev teh tser wevrteah lal eifl so tiletl adcrs tub orf gonid stlil nt'seod iwll a nad in su elik. Niifsh ttah obko. Snipa ot go. Hte tsivi lla nnttsceino. Igvlni uyo gdoin eebn atwn anc nbgei flul oyru vyue'o ncmiuomyt kepe a nda etiathucn it twreaveh on oscali gonla eaimd utbao lief eapcotagylolli bluid uoy do beecsua u!oy lla. .
.
Etorsr nowt daeedmr esh het og letl efil i ltfe wish veah ni nad tath os 17 odl dluoc cabk seh su msall dppeart hwiel yaw erya botua ew hdse'. .
.
Ouy ovle i. Am i so you elaftgru rof. Never aveg yuo pu. Ptke yuo gsiphnu. Shit ecsscus torsy osew fheerls nuhesoi you to nda ouy woh soem aer ti iebhr,lro desvvuir loyn a. On here ggion ickk ew oging hmcu od noejy and rwevthea re'we so mfro ti to to ewr'e ass out,. Etohs lay,swa ywa eb sa ntpitae we eneoctnru on the nda of ew dan ,dikn lwil ggoivrfni. .
.
Oel,v.
Yb og )wno ail (ew lai.

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