Just Between Me and Me

 

            I’m linking up this week with Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop. The assignment was to write a letter to my teenaged self. This was fun to write, but I doubt very much that girl would listen to a thing I have to say!

            Hey Vic, got a second? I know you’re in a hurry to get to rehearsal or a Key Club meeting. I want to talk to you about your life now and what’s coming in the next couple of years. There are loads of surprises to come—some good and some bad. But there are a couple of tips I’m going to give you that might make things a little easier along the way.

            First of all, in the second semester of your freshman year they’re going to put a baked potato bar in the school cafeteria. Don’t get hooked on it. You’ll think you’re immune to the “freshman fifteen” because you didn’t gain any weight first semester. You didn’t gain any weight because you were in a musical and dancing a couple of hours a day—and because there was no baked potato bar in the cafeteria. Between baked potatoes and beer, you’re going to “cow out” as Jamie says. Stick with the salad bar. It’s much easier to stay thin than to lose weight.

            While we’re on the subject of weight, you look fantastic. I know you think you’re chubby and flat chested. You’re looking in the warped mirror of a self-conscious seventeen-year-old girl. Trust me when I say, there will be times in your life you’d give anything for the body you have now. Also, stop hating your nose. Just stop it. The love of your life is going to think it’s adorable.

            Make time to learn a duet to sing with Papa in Italian. He loves to sing as much as you do. Your voice is a gift from his branch of the family. It’s would be a shame if you never sing together.

            I’m not going to tell you to work harder in school. You should, but I know you won’t listen to me. If nothing else, PLEASE work harder in French. You can take advanced foreign languages in college to get out of a couple of math classes. Trust me, it’s worth taking the time to study. Believe me, you’ll have a need for French (or Spanish, or Portuguese) more than you’ll have a need Algebra in your life.

            Your oldest child will start talking. He or she (no, I won’t say which) will also learn to read. I promise. That child is as stubborn as you and his dad combined. He or she does everything in his or her own time. Pressure will only slow the kid down. When he or she starts talking and reading, it’s going to blow you away.

            There will come a time of deep sadness in you life. You’ll know what I mean when it happens. You’ll try to get back on your feet and make everyone think you’re okay before you really are. Don’t do it. Let yourself wallow for a little while—just a little while. You can’t go back and wallow later if everyone thinks you’re already fine.

            Don’t worry though. The blessing in your life will far out number the tough times. Listen more than you talk, take long walks, eat your vegetables, don’t sweat the small stuff, and wear sunscreen. 

Teenaged me would never believe I listen to country music. She'd be horrified.