Love Letters

When I was 12, my seventh-grade English teacher had us write letters to ourselves and she mailed them 10 years later. I thought this was such a neat idea that every year after throughout junior high and high school I wrote a letter to myself and opened it one year to the day after. It was fascinating to see how my friendships and relationships changed, as well as how certain things became more clear and important in my life. The collection of letters has been a wonderful way to travel back through my teen years and remember who I was.

The year I was 22, I remember waiting for my letter to come. It arrived and was amazing to read what I was like at 12, and how much had changed in my life. When I was 12, I had my first serious crush, my parents hadn't yet divorced, school and soccer was my life, and I was worried about growing apart in my elementary school friendships. When I was 22 I was more concerned about graduating college, finding a job in my preferred career, where I was going to live and with whom, and anticipating moving from Missouri back home to California.

Today at work, a colleague and I were talking about writing letters like this and I remembered a website a friend told me about recently. It allows you to write letters to yourself and pick the date you want to receive them; the website sends it back to you at the later date of your choosing. It's the same concept my seventh-grade English teacher had, but without the second party. I love it! I wrote one to myself two months ago and can't wait to get it back in five years. I wonder how different my life will be then???

Check it out now: www.futureme.org