Dear future me,
Whenever you are reading this, I want you to know I am proud of you. All the uncertainty that was felt for the length of the COVID-19 pandemic, you got through it, you gained from it, and you grew from it. I know you are not the person you were before it happened, you have grown and kept growing. I am writing to you because I want you to remember certain aspects of this time. I want you to remember how you put your family’s needs, and your family member’s individual needs above your own, and how you stepped it up and focused on everyone else. I want you to remember all of the meals you made every single day for your family, how Emma happily helped you, and how Laura reluctantly did, but once in a while she would be in a good mood and cave. I want you to remember all the fun shows you watched with your family, all the game nights you had, all the laughs, all the hugs. I want you to remember going on drives with Emma and singing songs she likes. Not because you like her songs or her music taste, but because you appreciate it, appreciate her, and appreciate doing things that make her happy. I want you to remember how strong Emma, Laura, and your mom have been through this. How well your mom, overall, is taking the loss of her father, and how she still tries to be there as much as she can, emotionally and physically, even if every day is not good. I want you to remember how proud you are of Laura for taking missing her senior year of high school so well, for still wanting to laugh with you and have sleep overs with you some nights, and for taking silly BuzzFeed quizzes. I want you to remember how cool Emma has been about missing eighth grade too, how understanding she has been. I want you to remember to keep checking on her and doing stuff with her. I know she misses you a lot when you are at school and that the way things affect her shows differently than it does in other people. I want you to remember hanging out with your dad and grocery shopping with him. I want you to remember that anything you ever go through, your family is there to help, without judgment.