feeling...

Peaceful right?

feeling... sharp. dangerous. full of attitude. which, I guess, is just what a girl about to go to college ought to feel like. When you, future Anna, get this, it'll be ten years from now, and the passport that you got today will have expired. How was going to school in another country? Was it far enough away from your parents? What prompted past-you to write this (besides the fact that the trusty sketchbook/journal has gone missing) is the fact that, among all of the suitcases you were looking for in the attic today, you also found a hefty dose of family history. History from 1840. A picture of the family goat. Hand drawn sketches of the cottage. Letters back and forth between two feuding families. One family claims its daughter was starved to death whilst visiting the other. The other family is outraged because of a false arrest upon an unfounded accusation of THEIR daughter being a member of a house of prostitution. All insults and accusations in flowery, minute, faint 1840's penmanship, of course. I don't even know what the point of this email is. I just think it's weird that on the eve of your departure to distance yourself from your family, just when you're feeling incredibly independent, the attic delivers. Now, past-you wants to stay connected, be Bess's great great great great granddaughter, add her own tale to the many family stories. Past-you wants to stay in the attic forever, reading the family history. But I guess that's why college is good. So you can get the hell out of that attic and this house and make your own history. Go on.

Epilogue

3 days later

Ten years ago, I was a senior in high school aching to go to college as far away from home as possible. I wanted to see other countries and make...

Wno toisesr ym. I veen tfle lenpand wsa ti, ot ehplfuo ok — tefl htgveniyer taonmlmenu elvea mheo but i as adn eitd hatt to. Me ngpeion tosinmgeh my wnsig ielk saw no feturu boeerf up. .
.
Eb tub eth owh at?wh cseol ’tsi wyaa nda uyo anc wnod uefrut moeissmet pidew knwo rou evisl ,giaan razcy nca. Othruhg wonsk tbu taht aog dveli yaonne reeobf 2002 lewl ,llew daelern ayres ihts ent i tleter ubtao xis ntosmh wsa has eth a,tht how ftera rtwteni yteptr neslos. Nad — ndseodagi swa ym hrbrtoe i htiw cnraec.
.
St’tha hnouge mlatso ot etrhe gihrt sa,y. Ffo aretf ni ocelgle hwit the iclpyat nthe isdfeinh i rsaey neev whti wef chemo thguho pleh ogt leeulatyvn end eht kgnati be dan him i ot nce,epexeri veren a. Tcornu,y e,siormem my go tlciayp be ro enev ekam tgo ot haenrot ni tath ot hpyap lfse tagienntd rvene -eg-nreoayta i ,lgeolce hweil or cgeleol d’i if eaattdsved be eogclle odtl i. Mceopdar coepelhg-ole eth morohpuas teh sslo ssol i esmo is fo ghitnno wonk ym ot wno rrhteob utb tath fo.
.
My ta odl fomr olok a ffietdnre peylcmleot fesl prnseo i i bkac raye dna ekli elef rhe 81 tessommie. Raelllap a imngeai ehr in hten fo ri,vnseue eitm ixntiseg btu hewrmeseo i etsudoi. Tsih ilfe ni rnwgiit and yaaw gte eetrlt igwannt uotab insitgt hss’e d,rowl ttha and to rttas reh eerht. Jtus nda gwenrandi and hanuilgg smcui no noit kialgtn ehss’ e’retyh ehr fro lwkas dan hrrstbo’e rlofo snrefdi and thetoreg onw giitnts mnaikg nhte nad odwn ,oorm okiocse taubo igngo ar,t adn eht dna adn. Pnsegnid ten emth eifl tath of on msrtate yda hatt utboa twna lliw mtei it nto eb laktgin adn ainrilegz eth nneo niealdc nakilgt lwil ythe ’eyetrh eong ,now one lwil het ot ahwt eahv ronnhrte see ot oolk teh htigr how athn eiomserm oen gs,tlih ldoh emor ayd eyr,sa lnoy one oabtu in ot msdaer go to of eotgther to and hoert lkie. Tesb eh aws eirdfn my.

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