To Eight-Year-Old Georgina...

Dear Eight-Year-Old Georgina,

Finding this note at the bottom of your yellow basket that you bought from Mrs. Yeager at the start of the school year seemed like an odd thing to you. At first, you looked around before opening it, hoping it was a note from your best friend Lydia or that kid you have a crush on in class. When you realized it was from your future self, you were weirded out a bit, but you’ve always had the ability to believe in things that are not concrete. You even played with the idea that you wrote it for fun and forgot about it, but the handwriting and vocabulary should let you know that this is legit.

What’s this all about? Well, the future is cool and allows you to go back in time and send yourself messages to help you throughout life. There are a few things that I’d like you to hear now because it’ll help your future self.

First, don’t get so hung up about being fat. I’m sure that sentence makes your eyes sting a little. Calling yourself fat in public is not something you’ve considered. You do your best at hiding the fat, not calling attention to it, but that’s the way you are. In fact, the more you put yourself down about being fat, the fatter you will become. There will be a doctor in your future that is going to put you down for being fat even though he’s pretty fat himself. BUT, don’t listen to him. Not all doctors are like that. I promise. Just make sure you are healthy. Eat more fruit and veggies, drink more water, ride your bike and skate to your heart’s content. If you drop some weight, great! If not, don’t worry about it. I promise you that being fat won’t stop you from going to college, writing, falling in love, getting a job, being a good person, etc.

Second, live a little! Talk to that kid you have a huge crush on. Speak up! You don’t have to be in people’s face about things, but say what you think and ask for what you want. Honestly, the worst thing that can happen is that you will find out sooner that some people are jerks and rejection is sometimes a blessing. Being the quiet observer is great, but it’s also okay to shine the light on yourself.

Also, pay more attention during Math! Yes, I know you are a word person. You will continue to develop your love of words and eventually attend writer’s workshops and hang out with real authors, but you will also have a love for Chemistry. It will be a thing of beauty to see how these things come together to build new things, kind of like when you string words together to make sentences that build paragraphs. However, since your weakness is Math, you’re going to miss out on the religion of Chemistry. 

Lastly, don’t hold anything against Mom and Dad. Things are going to happen, and you have no control over it. These wheels have been in motion for a long time and the only ones that can stop this train are Mom and Dad. You will hate having the cliché “my parents split up and my life is ruined” attitude so you’ll internalize it and hold grudges and get depressed and eat your emotions and it’ll feel like you’re circling the drain. So just don’t worry about it. It’s for the best. Don’t blame Dad and don’t begrudge Mom for having to work so much, just love them and forgive them because they are human. And just like you do from your siblings, learn from their mistakes.

That’s all I have for now. I know it’s a lot for your eight-year-old mind, but you’re a smart kid. Enjoy a game of kickball this afternoon and say hello to Gabriel for me. He is your best friend, so when Lizette tries to make you guys fight, ignore her. TTYL!

Love,

Georgina from 2013