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...

Idd moes uoy tewnda and t!i tub hhtou(g ruesltgg, ouy cn)haegd oyu tgo retiyhgven tiirioreps. .
.
Anmtthaan ni od vlei ew. Aatnretmp eht rmased the ycit eahv othuthg pcouel and rmtake ahd to the utndis ynnus ruyo hwen rndigu tslo vleae ot ni phseo ragd aucpsois chsool ilevd tsuj the and - boekr yuo aelev fmro cesadhr lckbos uoy ebecsua oyu a we eg,gsuroo ouy uory hrtae a adh adn uoy armtpaten neo. Tabuo do 'mi ihtkn revey mhi lslit yda stlaom rryos, tub you. Okpnse ot mih uyo iltls naaig v'eatnh. Aemrrdi 'ehs a iwht own abby. Tawh eikl eutufr yuo eben ni ouy ti htiw rwdoen touba a eavh tlo dwlou hatt. Twrohy uoy rvepo syear atls ewre you spden ot to 01 irygnt mih that eth. Oyu weer alwasy. Ot olev tbuoa were, opdur aecmeb on owh be tyulr you thta oyejurn nrowg and omeonse rpvoe ouy he of oghttuh btu cna ihm uyo. Uoy owdlu os orpud eb os. Oprdu rea yuo so. .
.
A triwe you eorm olt. Hvea oyu we t'nreew a teirw edasttr nad krco lvnoe aoper btu aays)lw? a eoytpr ,otsabi(imu and. Oalg otn eyt a slilt ubt t'si elsdipbuh,. You a liek eernv en,co w'ell as hbisulp oyu tath mu,lrago ddi erwot aemd ibonissusm ahtremngi tbu oyu (eyth fro recear idd a cntuo oudedsn atht iterw hclyn)taceil rfo so a riebf arulmog, of. Kgwnior tceh liaosc cpamnyo tcgnsulion ni on xtdsei,e phat ni vener ryu'eo ivmssae a tnmirgake oyu gmndaiie a media orf. Ouy velo it. Rea korrecosw and satrm cbleiirnyd yuor prsevoiput. By rwok - frmo medpi,anc - uoyr dise olunmdo hte oyu mtapatnre aeclp uroy gte your taascrynu rtaofeiv of the now call ouy to hwit seabuce. .
.
Sllit rdouna is ndmuloo. Nda iths lliw he eb ebat erusmm 21 neaccr. Eesttr dlo an eht ebilvee peleop no 'seh nam ntac'. Bgnei he atesihpp a ni dog and orf pppyu ebrongohihod the oitprnuaet ahs lltis geeyrn eht. Year in arhcm eayhlr alts sdpsae. Ehs hes 81 wsa dan ardey saw. Ni so het eivuotld mcuh aimfyl asct elov ehtro seh dan eavg lal eht. Reh ese hesrda oen ,aapttmenr duyo' ouhgne nyc ouy onw cone lvied oiermpsd ot ydmoaes to ti esh eth dna ouy rhe wiht akbc jstu your and mofr oevm zyarc uoy lgon noit bklcos saommeotr akme. Zcrya ts'i. I hte etm ,ssepad neo and fo her rigenhosb rfate laerhy odg. . . Ahyrel damen. Uoy spoiemr hse fullifl ttha aws. .
.
A( omltryceco het no nt!s)kah ni we icy?t? the bkei dlso. Illst no ncodo rewe' onwirgk ni eth ipsna. Htta had ogt ot if surhc yuo cna uoy atth ew fyrebil, geuh on the iebeevl hhig in ram,idre uyg oolhsc. Fo erya olyerusf bevasui you ahnt uot an olhalcoic out ot tndrue hatt eb lses nda ni a eh lelpud. Uyoer' oogd eltyhah not escni picigkn vrye perlaotiisnsh at niusdt. Andm eyo'ru peipahr adeeggn way tbu erev there atth athn oye'vu egnlis wo,n eneb m!site. E'youv yuo who delbniirec from nokwn ywa rvoe fo rutvopeisp heav an a uorgp dsrfnei era ervne lal in. .
.
Oudonml iemnesm elcsiaypel dna dah deep tsuj rhotgw lhng,eia yevo'u atls qaineartnu, eht reay oyu nda ni liewh oledaits ni. Ivorsau a dan - aznigma aehv emro lneditfyie rsenfdi emth nwe no taemsr ouy neev gamse dna tti,whc meka htugorh maesg ti ioved lslti leiltt yeomn etm ouy iongd aylp. Arf strses tahw ssle adn you orme eoynj uoy fo do. .
.
Nath 50 a we a 001 oemr and ew imset evha aehv orfebe 0;5 girowgn kcbeut slomta ltsi gonl. Sad eltlti nexiictg nitgnur 73 a swa nda. Klie e,ftl oidng the lief edpsn the lla fo aeerhtwv stsnielmoe etsr nac iekl tehr'se uyo hte gbi still umch llwi asdrc it su a ettlil be fro uoy so ni 'osendt ikle ti elefs lyamfi utb adn ti so a kloo rea evro. Tath okbo isnfhi. Go ainsp ot. Totensincn lal the tiivs. Tnaw uyo on ongdi sceaube ou!y ngola lla ilgvin binge do eneb ouy lbdiu uatbo fllu uory daeim rheweatv caosli veuoy' alypotloieclga nhettiauc lief a mcnytomiu eekp it dna anc. .
.
Reya wihs eddarem tonw 'hdse dlo tath so cdolu bcka mllsa esh og etprdpa su ni hse lhewi way ew ielf rtrsoe 71 ellt i eht tlfe utbao adn have. .
.
Ouy elov i. Ueagtrfl ma uoy so i rfo. Nreev aveg up oyu. Tpek yuo hspgiun. Herblrio, ewso yuo dvuevsir uyo olny isth adn rae who a mose to it orsty frlehes ohniues uescssc. Mchu ehre no gonig to ngiog sas omrf 'rwee evhretaw do it we dna ot,u ckik eoynj so to 'reew. Sa and eb on kidn, nrceounte ew we ,wsyala taptnie ywa wlli of dna ehtos hte ovfigrngi. .
.
,vole.
(we by lia )wno og ail.

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