letter to myself

Klinde included me in her latest game of tag, and though I’m quite tardy in completing the project, here it is. The idea is to write a letter to your thirteen year old self. Here goes nothing.

Dear Me,

It’s been a bitch of a year, I know. You moved away from where you had a nice, safe group of friends and came to Nashville only to find yourself the pariah of your eighth grade class. The one person who has befriended you is manipulative and a little deceitful, but you’re so desperate to have someone to talk to that you don’t mind so much.

Have faith in yourself. Don’t sacrifice your values or your common sense to appeal to the popular kids that are making your school days intolerable. In ten years you’ll be able to look them in the eye and know that you’re better for the way they treated you. Don’t sacrifice your pride or your body for any boy that you don’t have a 100% good feeling about. In fifteen years you’ll be able to look your husband in the eye and know that you never settled for a man that didn’t deserve you.

As much as you want to pummel them for punching you in the face, breaking your glasses down the middle and making you wear medical tape wrapped around the nose piece to school, spend time with your brothers. Someday they may be in harm’s way somewhere far, far away and you’ll not believe how much you miss and worry about the little shits.

Don’t be afraid to adopt the southern tradition of ending conversations with an “I love you”. There are some people to whom you can never say that too much.

Hang tight. Life does get better. Oh, and your hair will grow out straight and heavy so you can take it out of a ponytail and not have a kink in it.

Love,
Me

I’m supposed to tag other people now, I guess.  Hmmm.  Rules:

* Link back to the person who tagged you.
* Send a letter back in time to your 13 year old self.
* Tag 5 more people to do this meme.

I’ll tag Double S, since she’s dealing with teens in her house now and probably has a whole new outlook on herself at the same age, Shauna because I haven’t seen her in a thousand years and this gives me a good excuse to link to her, Kathy T because she’s also living through the throes of teendom and is guaranteed to make us all weepy with her letter, and Katie because I met her a when I was not much older than 13 and I think we were in the same boat with a lot of things back then.  I know I’m one short, but I’ll come back if I think of a fifth.