Future Self

With shaking hands, the old woman reached out for the envelope sitting on the table beside her. Just as slowly, she opened it and pulled the folded paper from within. Carefully unfolding it, she held the page close to her face, squinting her eyes a fair bit in order to make out the words.


Hi Emily,
I hope you haven't cheated by opening this before you were supposed to. If you're opening it on time, it should be 2073 and you, we, should be 75. Firstly, congratulations on making it this far. I hope the road hasn't been too rough along the way.


Back here in 2014, we're 16. Do you remember those days, Emily? Life is pretty good right now. Pretty full. I've got a few close friends, but my best buddy would have to be Bandit, hands down. Do you remember him? Our best mate? I've put a photo in of us, just now that I've put in. He might be a big boy, but he's so much fun! He's the best dog, and the best mate ever. He loves to play ball and other times he's real protective and cuddly at others. Other than that, life seems to be taking off sort of. At school, I'm in year 10, which doesn't sound real exciting at all, but it is, sort of though it's sort of hard too.


There's a few things I want to ask though. Did you do what we wanted? Did you make something of yourself? Did you have a good life? Did you get married? Did you have kids? Did you have a family? I hope so, cause that's what I'd like to do with my future. I would hate for my life to go to waste. There's a reason everyone is here, on this earth so even if we don't find what it was we were put here to do, it's still important to at least do something. Make something of yourself so your time here wasn't a complete waste. So, did you Emily? Did you make something of yourself? Did you do something with your life? I hope so. Anyway, all the best,
Emily


The old Emily looked around her room in the nursing home, nodding happily. She'd accomplished what she'd wanted. She smiled at the memories the photos around the room brought back to her. She'd met her husband about 6 months after writing that letter to her future self. Her sweet Tyler. Though he was gone now, only two years before, the memories of their early years together was as clear as if they'd happened only yesterday. And later on, they'd had a family. Jesse had come along in 2023, Arianna 3 years later and Elizabeth two years after that. Since then, there'd been an abundance of birthdays, a few weddings and plenty of grandbabies to love. Yes, Emily thought with a satisfied smile and nod as she looked around at the room once again, she'd done it. She'd achieved what she'd wanted to achieve. She'd made something of herself.


Not too many days later, Emily passed away peacefully in her sleep. But she passed happy. She passed knowing she'd been accomplished. She'd made her mark on the world and they wouldn't forget her yet.