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...

You did hhug(to ouy reyvhtegin meso nda roipeitrsi tsgu,rleg otg !ti eawtdn tbu uoy eadnh)gc. .
.
In tmntaaahn do ew vlie. Ot synun fmro sosuipca sjtu the merads we ryou dceshra tindsu ivlde ctyi slcooh in eth ceabuse ewnh ostl uoy uyo lvaee ot tkream gurdin a culpeo yrou attraemnp ahd the ouy olcbks eht eon hgtouth rthae dagr vlaee dan - sgooeug,r a bokre pheos uoy renatatmp hda dna oyu aevh dan. 'mi bouat ,sryro mhi utb do ayd ostalm eyevr yuo khnti sitll. Pnkoes ae'hnvt ihm to ainag llist you. A whti se'h now abby iermdar. Uwold a atuob athw heav htwi ni lkei it htta ebne ouy dnerow uoy olt trueuf. Erew aryse atls ahtt yuo uyo ihm to ytinrg to twrohy npsde 10 roevp het. Yaawsl rwee you. Neuoyrj botua erwe, be udorp lvoe uyo eh thta no yuo yuo and opevr woh grwno ubt mih to ecambe anc fo thhutog enosmoe tyulr. Os odrpu os yuo be wlodu. Orpdu yuo aer os. .
.
Remo a ritwe lto yuo. Eahv raeop a a dna ouy we o,bsum(iait crko tub tdetrsa pyoetr e'etwrn wreti nad )l?asway lonve. Ton olga a tub e,dslhbuip yet tills 'ist. A a htta hcyctnli)ael (etyh wriet wtoer urg,mola a erecar aro,mugl did fo hemtagrni dneusod ntuco mnbsuosiis eadm uyo we'll rfo atht ibfer ouy yuo did oe,cn enver as tub so kile fro hlupisb. Wogkirn enrev on thpa ni a cymanop vamises uyo snognlcuti eaimd dnigeami ilosac gnireatmk setid,xe ni a orf etch 'eruyo. You evol ti. Ouyr ledyircbni cweosrkro dan aer eospuprtvi tsarm. Fmor yuro lacl ouyr - ratcsuyan fo orkw wiht ouy atneptarm mdonuol - cepal epminac,d ouy to dise vtfiroae ryuo now yb het ausbeec egt hte. .
.
Is raondu oonmdlu sltli. Be eh nda ebta siht aenrcc ilwl mrseum 12. Epploe man on etsert na 'she het leebive act'n lod. Eh illts in hte and hhirdnoegboo god has a yuppp hieppats itprtaoenu eht eygnre gnebi rfo. Arye sspdae ni aleryh mcrah atsl. Dna yaerd 81 wsa ehs ehs aws. Ehs milafy rhtoe hmcu csat so hte eht lla gvea eovl dan ni otivdeul. Hognue cneo see ruyo to pr,amettan zcyra emov nda easomyd ujst to nad glno oyu o'yud kabc meka devil tnio idrpeoms ycn itwh eht form erh arsdeh noe hre ti now sobclk oyu yuo seh otsoarmme. Acyzr is't. Sa,dpse rhe fo nrseghibo teh and emt lhyaer ogd eon i feart. . . Maend hyarle. Pmoreis was llffliu tath you ehs. .
.
No het hte anhk!)ts ni we y?tci? rtolecoymc lsdo bike a(. In onikgwr cndoo psain on teh ee'rw sillt. Csurh atth hda no der,riam anc beiveel htat uyg yuo ot hhig we ghue ni olcsoh ogt uyo yfi,lber if het. Otu sevbaui rsfouely an lohliaocc ssel eyra ni fo nad to tou ldelpu he a htat uoy eb rnutde tanh. Neics hepisrnsialot godo yver eoury' otn cipngik altheyh ta itsund. Nwo, ourey' ouve'y eneb paphier atht ahtn slgien ayw amnd but edaggne ever heetr s!tiem. Hwo lla eahv ouy vreo mrof ebinircdel vsoieprupt reven of na siefdrn e'uoyv nkwno rea upogr way a ni. .
.
In atsl had and peed neilhga, elpilyecas in ntuaraeq,in ouy semenim 'eoyuv and toldiase welhi nluomdo eth sujt year otwgrh. Hhgortu yuo aznmgai thme akem - on ilftndeyie a wne aypl ratems gesma nyoem vidoe dan odgin eevn ermo hvae ti met dan litls vsiruao whc,tti smaeg sierdfn ouy ltltei. Uyo estssr fo rfa and awth you ojney mreo od slse. .
.
Ekbtuc lsti atnh 50 ew heav gnol ;05 rwgnoig reofbe 010 maotls dna ehav oerm a eimst we a. Dna ads a nteigxci ttiell 73 ungrint saw. Orf os hmuc eth in liek it myalfi eikl tltlie the esh'etr gib evhwrtea and uoy tsill so eilf a omitlsnsee ti rets ti lliw scadr tbu teh of eb lla cna nedps evro a uyo dson'et klie okol ear elsef su nodgi fet,l. Obok thta ihfsni. Og to spian. Vtisi lal cnsetitnno hte. Antw atobu yo'evu oyu iaoscl ielf muonictym aevtwher eepk a lflu begin lal ti no esabecu !you nca gliniv oalng dan aimde lolieapgycloat do uoyr ldbui eben gdoin you acentuthi. .
.
Hsiw seh apdpert hte feli lmlas 'shde llet oatbu old erya so in ew adn wlieh i kcab uodcl otnw 17 eearmdd su ywa she hatt have og fetl roetsr. .
.
Oyu i elov. Lfaertug so i rof am you. Up eavg uoy erven. Oyu nigpuhs pkte. Dvivsrue adn rae to smeo eswo yuo sryto souhien fsrleeh how ylon htis ti sssccue lriheobr, oyu a. Here mrfo ot uhmc avwerteh sas to os ,uto do niggo kcik r'ewe on oeyjn e'wer dan gngio it ew. Sa illw ifovingrg of awy nda we naiptet no wlayas, we eth hteos nad tnenuocre eb nkd,i. .
.
,leov.
Go ali by ila wno) w(e.

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