Letter from my 18 year old self

[Jersey Girl]

You guys. When I was a senior about to graduate from high school, one of our last assignments was to bring in a stamped addressed envelope and write a letter to ourselves in class with the understanding that the teacher would mail it to us in 10 years. She did. In my home travels today, I found it. Again.

I'm going to post the content here and replace one name with BF in an effort to protect the innocent or guilty. If you have anything like this to share (recall Dr. Shades missionary journal?) please feel free and if you comment on this...try to be kind. I'll probably comment on it myself. Every time I have read this over the years, I found it a bit uncomfortable to see who I was at age 18. Some things I wrote don't seem to add up and some sentences are just incomplete. And yet, I'm of a mind that whoever you were when you were young, you have brought that person with you as you went forward in life. I can see some of my "today self" in the words to some extent, and some areas where I didn't express myself as truthfully as I could have.

Please excuse my pathetic writing skills at age 18. I'm leaving the slang and teen affectations in for good measure.

" I am glad to be be getting out of school. I guess I learned a lot but I learned more out of school. The system is bad. School gives you no responsibility. I will only miss Mr. Vecchione's junior history class and vocat, even though I will proberly see the girls around.

I have been going with BF six months now we plan to get engaged on (date) a year from the day we started going out. We aren't getting married for a couple of years because BF is going to be a cop.

Tonight we are going to the Rock 'n Roll Revival at Madison Square Garden instead of the Senior Ball. I really would have liked to go but.

We will proberly be married in about 3 years. We already or I already picked out baby names. Jenny, Jason, James, and Rachel. They are nice names. I hope they like them.

Graduation is in one week. I can't wait to get out really but I will miss everyone but. I will have more time with BF, I'm glad cause I really love him."

p.s. She married the guy.

[Jersey Girl]

My interpretation...in blue.

I am glad to be be getting out of school. I guess I learned a lot but I learned more out of school. (Once I learned how to make money, all I wanted to do was make money because I saw that as the ticket to my independence.)The system is bad. School gives you no responsibility. (I think I meant that school doesn't teach students how to be responsible. Because it didn't. I would have liked to have seen auto maintenance, money management, and things like that be part of the curriculum. As it was, I did do some budgeting in Home EC and took metal shop. Everything else I learned to do with regard to adult responsibility was by taking it on and carefully figuring it out either on my own or with JB as I went along, including how to do PM, change tires, and troubleshoot my own car.) I will only miss Mr. Vecchione's junior history class and vocat, even though I will proberly see the girls around. (Mr. Vecchione was the best teacher I ever had. He actually gave interesting and relevant lectures. Within the curriculum he taught us civics. He was a lively teacher, very down to earth, who related to us as teens and his jokes made us all LOL.)

I have been going with BF six months now we plan to get engaged on (date) a year from the day we started going out. We aren't getting married for a couple of years because BF is going to be a cop. (He was in school for law enforcement, but never became a cop!)

Tonight we are going to the Rock 'n Roll Revival at Madison Square Garden instead of the Senior Ball. I really would have liked to go but. (See that but? That but should have read...but I have never been to a formal dance before, I don't have the confidence or the money to even try. The concert was outstanding! Jerry Lee Lewis and so many others and Do Wops galore! )

We will proberly be married in about 3 years. We already or I already picked out baby names. Jenny, Jason, James, and Rachel. They are nice names. I hope they like them. (This is startling because back then I never wanted to get married. I liked the idea of getting engaged because all the girls were getting engaged in Senior class and talking about baby names. Maybe I was trying to fit in. Likewise, I never wanted to have children. Yet, I eventually did both and understand that my early skepticism and distrust had everything to do with my beginnings and the tearing apart of relationships in my own home. I changed one of the baby names because it is JB's name. We used it for one of the offspring.)

Graduation is in one week. I can't wait to get out really but I will miss everyone but. I will have more time with BF, I'm glad cause I really love him." (Well, I guess I really did!)

[ceeboo]

You guys. When I was a senior about to graduate from high school, one of our last assignments was to bring in a stamped addressed envelope and write a letter to ourselves in class with the understanding that the teacher would mail it to us in 10 years. She did.

It's kind of a cool assignment - But It's fantastically cool that she actually mailed it back 10 years later.

p.s. She married the guy.

And that's the coolest of all! Awesome!

[doubtingthomas]

Interesting. I should probably write a letter to myself and open it in 10 years.

[Jersey Girl]

Interesting. I should probably write a letter to myself and open it in 10 years.

It'll make you a little crazy.

[Jersey Girl]

You guys. When I was a senior about to graduate from high school, one of our last assignments was to bring in a stamped addressed envelope and write a letter to ourselves in class with the understanding that the teacher would mail it to us in 10 years. She did.

It's kind of a cool assignment - But It's fantastically cool that she actually mailed it back 10 years later.

p.s. She married the guy.

And that's the coolest of all! Awesome!

Oh ha ha. I guess I didn't read this reply. Yes, she really did send the letter out to us 10 years later. Then it had to get mailed to me where we lived. Interesting that my mother never opened it, but I think I read it to her over the phone. I wonder what the other students thought of their 18 year old self? It's a little scary/awkward to see who you were at that age. I noticed that although I was immature and at least somewhat influenced by peers, that there are some things about me that remain the same. Like being critical of the school curriculum.

It's kind of ironic that although I went through Vocat (cosmetology) with flying colors, that I never got my license (military sort of screwed all that up so I shifted direction) and only worked in a shop a day or two of my life subbing for someone who was in our class. Lord, some of those girls were SO freaking talented and already worked in shops...just waiting to earn their license so they could move up and earn more money for their talents especially in cutting hair...damn, they were so good! The best things I could do was hair color, sets, style and mani/pedis. The field was SO different back then.

As to the awesomeness of the outcome, don't ask us on a bad day. You don't want to hear two Jersey kids in, shall we say, conflict.

[Jersey Girl]

Remember this thread? One of my kids just got THEIR letter to themselves from high school in today's mail! I didn't even know this existed!

Wow, there are some really good teachers and schools that will save these letters and send them out as promised.

I want to open it!

I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it.

[Some Schmo]

(I think I meant that school doesn't teach students how to be responsible. Because it didn't. I would have liked to have seen auto maintenance, money management, and things like that be part of the curriculum...)

I've thought about this subject (probably too much) and I completely agree. There is so much practical knowledge people could be taught rather than learning it on their own.

For instance, I had no idea my ass would get loose as I age. I yearn for the younger version of my ass. If someone had told me I would lose ass quality slowly over time, I could have cherished my younger ass, which would have meant so much more to me over the years than trigonometry does.

[Dr. Shades]

I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it.

Good, because doing so is a federal offense. Quite literally.

[High Spy]

I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it. I will not open it.

Good, because doing so is a federal offense. Quite literally.

Porch pirates are filmed snagging us mail and the post office does nothing about it.