Prompt 31

 May 31st 

Today, it has been ten years since I graduated from high school and a lot has changed since that day. I got the idea for today's prompt from a project that my English teacher had us do in our senior year. We were meant to write a letter to ourselves a couple years in the future. This time around I wanted to write a letter to my eighteen-year-old self. There is quite a lot that I'd like to tell myself at that age. Makes me think of the song "Letter to Me" by Brad Paisley.

Dear Carrie, 

    Today, you graduated from high school, and I remember that day just like it was yesterday. You're sitting there worried about what's going to happen with your friends. What you're going to do over the summer and also about the new school year coming sooner than you will believe. It's going to all go okay. 

    You're going to make a ton of mistakes in the next couple of years. Some of them that I wish that we never made and others that actually turned out okay. There are going to be a couple of guys that are going to break your heart. And guess what, it was still worth it. 

    Life's speeding on past us now and I have got to say, I'm quite proud of what we have accomplished in the last ten years. You graduated from Bloomsburg University with two degrees in December 2016. Yes, you did major in Creative Writing also. In 2017, you finished your first draft of your novel, the first in a four-part series. Then you spent the next couple of years editing it. But man, you should be proud of that accomplishment. We've started many different projects since then and are almost finished with another novel. 

    You spent a good portion of the last ten years working with children. Not in the way we were expecting, but I believe some of it was much more fulfilling than anything we ever dreamed of. I know that I would never change a minute of it. I don't know where the next ten years are going to lead us now, but I look forward to finding out. 

    I hope to be able to tell you in another five years, that we're published but for now, we'll keep the faith, kid (as Dad always has said). 

    Carrie, never take the little moments for granted. Those moments that don't feel as special at the time but eventually, you'll remember them fondly. Let yourself love and be loved no matter how fleeting that all becomes. I don't regret those days in the slightest, even though I know you will for a time. Enjoy the time you have with your friends and try not to be so self-conscience about it all. They'll love you no matter what. Write and read as much as you can. Dance, Laugh, Sing, Scream, and enjoy your time for the next ten years. Some days will be hard but there will be days that make it all worth it in the end.  

P.S. Carrie, go hug Grandma for me.