Dear Me, Age 15
Greetings From the Year 2019
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Dear Karen,
First of all, don’t freak out. Just stop the East 17/La Bouche mix tape you’ve been listening to and concentrate — this stuff is super important. I’m going to let you in on the secrets of the universe.
(Secondly, kudos on your new gypsy skirt — you look rad as hell.)
Okay, are you ready for this?
The people you’re fighting so hard to impress in high school are long gone by the time you hit twenty-one. The girls who talked behind your back, the boys who were only after one thing, and yes, even some good friends. Don’t let it stop your fun now, but remember — high school might seem like hell but it’s really just a series of stepping stones everyone has to negotiate before the rest of the map opens up.
Keep studying. In about a year, you’ll have to make a decision about your future. It’ll come at a time when you’re at your most fragile and taking the easiest road seems like a good idea, but trust me when I say, it really isn’t. Future You takes the easy route, and Future You spends the next twenty years trying to get back to that fork in the road. Sure, you see a lot of really cool shit and meet a bunch of awesome people along the way, but it’s like that scene in Apollo 13 when they have to make a square peg fit into a round hole. It works…but it causes a whole lot of drama in the meantime. Go against the grain — it’ll change your life.
You’re going to meet a boy this year. He’s lovely. He’ll respect you, honour you, never pressure you. You’ll go crazy for him. But you’re only fifteen. What you’ll assume is love will just be hormones and gratitude and excitement all wrapped up in a parcel of longevity — after all, nine months is an awfully long time for a high school romance. He will break your heart, which makes him the perfect First Boyfriend; he will show you that there are Good Men in the world, but also that things rarely work out the way you think they will, and that’s okay. Keep waiting. There’s something amazing just around the corner.
And when you do meet The One, you’ll know it. You’ll have three children — two boys and a girl. You’ll be young. Like, crazy young. Life is insane, but you’ll be happy.
