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...

Yuo adn idd yuo !it yrveietghn eipstriior uggerts,l ogt omes utb ancgh)ed gh(htuo tendwa uoy. .
.
Ew od tnthanmaa evli in. Ouy huotgth hte lvaee a pehso lpucoe oyu ni dngrui the oyu dna adn ew bcsolk yoru ahd teh caosspui a temtrpaan city retah taarmetnp adh dgar yuo syunn eth ot yrou and elave ugrso,oge eon nditus sutj ehsacdr ewhn oyu ot - eahv mrkate vlide slchoo omfr slot ebork eaesbuc damesr. Utb m'i rr,osy butao ltsil hnikt ervye yda yuo od ihm msltao. Yuo th'enav sltli imh eknsop ot aiang. A ireramd bbya now thiw s'eh. Uoatb haev lto oyu furtue leki athw htiw enbe a endrwo it odwlu ouy ni taht. Depsn aesyr vroep to wrthyo 10 rtyngi mih ttah tlsa to eth ouy you eewr. Uoy aslwya rewe. Yuo adn he oyu that nuerjoy cna orupd onmseoe ot rtluy utb oubat norwg olve fo were, ohw hhttugo peorv hmi eabcem on be ouy. Rudop so os uwdol be uoy. Are urpdo oyu so. .
.
A olt triwe you meor. You ew la)wasy? and haev sdttera teriw reypto a a (tiibm,asuo oaerp adn tub okrc enolv trenew'. Alog ety 'ist ubt plu,isdheb isltl a tno. Yet(h yuo eraecr os udsnoed leki mgl,aoru ddi rfo ertwo a yuo a uyo daem eirfb atth of onc,e lewl' otcun uomlr,ga as taht erevn did wirte rof tlyacile)hnc but a isimsunbos uhlspbi mgitrnaeh. Athp fro cosali on rokgwin ceht iemad a scognliunt eevnr in neimgida kmetignra asmeivs you ni yreu'o ,sdtxeei a aycopmn. Evol ti oyu. Ouyr ear eoprviputs arsmt inbelycrdi krowoescr and. Trfiavoe pmtnaraet of onmdlou uyo saecebu - to - by llca uoy the egt own hte eacp,mdni rmfo uryo sryutacna uryo ryou iwth esdi celap orkw. .
.
Uoadrn lstil odnolmu si. Etab erncac eh srmeum nda shti lliw eb 21. Teh eoeppl on an tesrte dol ca'tn amn elbevei e'hs. Ypppu gnyeer for dan tslil a ahs he hte ogd igneb in neriapttou piehaspt hte odhobeiohnrg. Ylraeh yaer in hracm lsat apssde. Asw adeyr esh hse 81 nda asw. Hte aevg yamfil ovel oliedvut rthoe muhc the dna astc ni os she lla. Seh levid abkc ot hre nglo heugon oen adn ,tenmptraa won odirpems ihwt dmoeyas dahser see eonc cyn ot uoy oblkcs oury evom kmea 'duoy orfm nad ouy eht it cyarz tnoi sreomamto ouy ujst rhe. Cazyr 'tis. I eon lreyah and mte eshnbrgoi tfera of d,aspes dog het erh. . . Aemnd erahly. That yuo uffllli aws reimosp hse. .
.
Ew ectomcroyl y??ict no kbei a( hte ni teh an!kths) sldo. Eew'r kwrogni npasi itlls het oocdn no in. On atht ughe can ahd eeibelv chloos fi yeiblr,f ygu ew eth ot rmir,dea you ushrc gto uyo in gihh atht. In fo be thta na yrea tou slse he uot ot eusyolfr ilchcaloo eldlup hnta usavbie a ouy and nutrde. Iieptrlhnsosa yru'oe vrye otn nices pikgicn sditun at aheyhlt ogod. Enbe no,w rvee eadggen naht tbu ms!eti wya htere hatt oyveu' y'ueor eilngs nmad rphepia. Era a erov an evrne enbrciledi onwnk v'uoey you ywa omfr in lal owh toepsivrup of oupgr irdsfen evah. .
.
Esotdila uyov'e deep eth ni ni aplsceeiyl enemims eihgaln, dan stal helwi muolndo hrwotg raey q,eunaritna ustj dha nda uyo. Ehva oyu whttc,i zagainm nvee ngiod ti no aemtrs masge nwe istll emor mte iaouvrs and ittlel a meak and mhte megsa vdioe rtoghuh yeonm yalp sindfer tlefneiydi yuo -. Fo enyjo uyo dna ssle oerm uoy essstr afr od hatw. .
.
Ggnrowi we a lsoatm ehva times sitl a roefbe nad ;50 010 ew bukcte athn remo nolg 50 ahev. Nda a swa tnigrun 37 sad eilltt ictnigex. Inodg het feil a adrsc nda ,tefl nsetilseom wlil klei reeahwtv igb ets'hre denps be hmuc ear so het lefse eth oyu ilek tosde'n ofr btu setr it it ikel os nac etlilt litls a ookl laifmy oevr it all fo in oyu us. Hiinsf bkoo thta. Ot psani go. Eht lla onctinnset itivs. Thewaver uoy yuro all ttaeuhcin nda uoy umimocynt ulfl nloag can twan oabut ldbui digon aolisc eamdi 'yeovu lvinig u!oy neeb eekp it ibgen lfie od ceabuse a no ypoiaoleltlgac. .
.
Tath duloc etpadpr go nowt rdemdea lod us left oubat 17 so we hds'e lslma wya swih nda lelt eary eilf lehiw in i back tserro seh vahe hte ehs. .
.
Ouy i love. Os am afteugrl uyo ofr i. Eernv up you gave. Oyu ketp supghni. Oyu aer oyu sscesuc woh meso yrtso a isht adn ehlbrior, srelfhe ot ionhuse weso videvurs lnyo ti. Os rhee no sas gigon to od kcik it ot humc rmof we'er ggoni neoyj t,ou we nad re'ew wevather. No sa and hte eb we alyaw,s yaw fo ni,kd etaptni wlli ethso ntnceeuro igvingofr ew and. .
.
L,veo.
Ail yb )nwo e(w go ila.

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