Dear Me.

Dear Me,

You're sixteen years old. You've just had the most awkward, non-traditional sweet sixteen birthday party ever, four months after your actual birthday. Your best friend is spending the summer with you, and you've just gotten your first job. Congratulations, you're going to love it.

You're also going to save up and buy your first cell phone this year, but be careful. Having a direct line to you isn't the smartest thing in the world. You're still going to be extremely insecure when school starts back, but that's okay. You'll loosen up a lot this year and become more independent. You'll try out for the volleyball team, that sport you never ever wanted to play because it was for ditzy valley girls, and you'll actually make varsity.

But dear me, I have a bone to pick with you. Stop lying to your parents so much. Stop staying out late after school and then lying about where you've been. It's not worth the pain and frustration it causes you when you get home - not to mention what it's going to do to your relationship with your parents. Trust is not something easily gained, and you're throwing out of the window as though it were confetti. Please, please understand that they're worried about you, and it's frightening to see you growing up so quickly - ten years from now, you'll feel the same way as you watch your niece grow up.

Two years from now, on your way to college, you'll meet a boy. He's going to look exactly like you've always imagined, tall with dark curly hair, and a skater, to boot. He's even going to like you, like you.

HE IS BAD NEWS.

Please walk away from him. Don't give him the time of day, don't let him walk you to the train station...don't. He's going to break your heart, and he's going to take a lot of things from you that you can never get back, your first year GPA being one of them. Please don't talk to him...

Dear me, you're going to argue with your mom, a lot. And let me tell you something. That's not going to have changed ten years into your future. But it's a learning process for the both of you; you asserting yourself, her learning to let go and allow you to be you. You'll figure it out eventually, more or less. At the very least, you'll learn which battles are worth fighting.

Dear me, what's with those brightly colored leather belts you're always wearing, and why don't you ever take the tag off? You'll outgrow the "everything must match my shoes" phase soon...I can't wait for that.

You should try wearing your hair in an afro more often...it looks good on you. Don't you remember all the compliments you got that one time you tried it? Don't let your fear of what others will think stop you from being you. People are going to think what they want to regardless, and why should you change who you are or want to be to make them happy? You're the one who has to live with yourself for your entire life. So stop being so concerned about fitting in, or looking cool, or what others think of you. It doesn't matter. You'll probably always struggle with that, but try to remember that God didn't make a world full of carbon copies.

Yes. Ten years from now, you will be quoting your mother.

In short, live your life, and enjoy yourself. Your teenage years might feel like they will last forever, but one day you'll look back on a memory that feels like yesterday and be shocked to realize that it happened over a decade ago.

So live. Laugh. Love...yes, you are capable of that. Just try to direct it at the right people, the ones who value you in return. When you do that, you can live a life that has a few less regrets in it.

And whatever you do, do it with all your heart.

Dear me,

I love you.