If I Could Write A Letter to Me…

Have you ever gotten a letter from yourself that you wrote two years ago? No? Well, that’s what happened to me today.

I have been known to be a little sign-up happy from time to time. Someone sends me a link to a website or new app and I click over. Sounds cool, looks nice, so I click around. Next thing I know I’m signing up for an account and not really even knowing what for. So as you can guess, I have some email problems.

I get a lot of it.

I forget what I’ve signed up for. I end up deleting things and eventually just unsubscribing wondering what I was thinking in the first place. Today I was reminded of something I signed up for two years ago.

While I wish I could remember doing it, I’m definitely seeing the fruits of my labor from then. It’s with an organization called FutureMe.org. You simply write a letter to yourself, enter your email, and select the date you want the email sent.

I’m lucky if I can remember to feed the dog so I had absolutely no recollection that this was headed my way. What a bizarre surprise.

Even weirder is reading the note I wrote to myself:

I wrote this in March 2009. Back then, I was a full-time working mom to a 2 year old little boy, one Lhasa Apso, and two kitties. And if you can’t read it, here’s how I thought my life would turn out versus how it actually did.

1. Sean has a new job and is very happy. I think he has finally found his calling. He loves being a dad and is enjoying Evan more and more every day.

Well, that is true. But the new job didn’t come until a few weeks ago. I guess I got this one right.

2. Evan is 4 years old now. I can’t believe it! He is in preschool and already reading and outperforming all the kids around him. He will start private school next year but I think he’s ready now!

Wow, I totally nailed that one! Evan IS 4 years old! I never sent him to preschool because we’ve been so uncertain for a year if I needed to go back to work or if we were moving. He will be going to preschool somewhere this fall and obviously some sort of school after that. It all depends on where we end up living.

3.  I am still working at Futures. The future of Futures! We had some rocky times but I’m glad I stuck it out. I’m making a lot more money and still have a lot of flexibility to spend at home.

This one makes me chuckle a little. I was laid off from Futures (a software company) in July 2009. I was a little relieved because “rocky times” is an understatement. But I was also pretty disappointed because I really liked the people and thought I would be working there for a long time. However, if I was still there, chances are pretty good I wouldn’t be blogging. And that thought makes me totally sad.

4. Our little girl just turned 6 months. It took a while but life it getting good again. Finally getting some sleep and feeling like myself. Evan loves having a little sister.

This one is kind of hard to read. I can physically have more children. And I never decided that I don’t want any more children. But I take prescription medications that you can’t take when you’re pregnant. So I focused more on my health than having more children. Still tugs at my heart to think that my son won’t ever have a sibling.

5. My special puppy Holden finally joined his brother Einstein on the Rainbow Bridge. I miss him so much. There will never be another Holden. We are finally starting to think about getting another dog.

This is true. We lost Holden, our Lhasa Apso, in December 2009. And all of my sentiments above are so true. He was my forever dog. However, we have had Emma, a toy poodle in our family since April 2009. I guess I can’t stay away from them.

6. The kitties are still here but Arnie has really slowed down.

Again, this feels like foreshadowing. Arnie really did slow down in the last 3 months of his life but unfortunately I said goodbye to my feline friend just a few short weeks ago.

7. The rest of the family is still doing well. Life has had its ups and downs but it’s nothing but good.

Okay. Anyone could have written that statement. That’s true for most families. But thankfully, we are all doing well.

And then the letter closed with:

Anyway, FutureMe, I hope I am sort of close. If not, I know that you will be happy however things turn out because you have a tendency to realize that everything happens for a reason. And if it hasn’t turned out like above, I am sure you are still happy and fulfilled and appreciating every day of what you have been given.

I don’t remember if I wrote that part or not. It doesn’t matter because I do appreciate every day what I have.

How has your life turned out compared to how you thought it would two years ago??