It seems like only yesterday, I was writing a letter to Kaeli on the eve of her first day of high school and now here we are. Time does funny things – because despite us trying to squeeze it tightly closed, it always manages to just keep doing life while we run to keep up. I thought watching my niece go off to high school was hard, but for whatever reason, she’s always seemed like an adult (probably the early full sentence talking and her being the oldest motherly type of all the kids). Seeing your nephew – the tiny one you watched grow into a young man? That’s just a sucker punch to the gut.
You always were a ladies’ man.
So to him, some words of wisdom on how to make these the best four years of his life:
Dear D,
1. You’re the coolest.
No, for real. Confidence is a thing – go in, own it, and think you have it all figured out (but don’t get too cocky). You are outgoing, funny, and adorably cute (yes, I know, I’m family, but it’s true!) and if YOU love yourself, then the rest will naturally follow suit.
2. Work hard.
You’re a worker bee. I think you were born knowing that a hard work ethic could get you places – that could have been when you were working at the Beauty Shop when you were like an infant or when you started cutting Poppy’s lawn right before kindergarten. Work hard for what you want to achieve in life because the world does not usually just simply hand you success.
You never know what striking up a conversation can do. Who you might meet. What friendships might surface. You never know who’s life you might save just because you said hello. Love BIG like Jesus. {Sidenote: This is the same wisdom I gave your sister. It still matters.}
4. Be the nice guy.
It might seem natural to “jock around” with the best of them, but the nice guys do not really finish last. Girls have the same self-confidence issues that you (and every other teenager in the universe has), so make sure you go out of your way to make those interactions with you the best (and no, you don’t have to marry her or anyone else for that matter, JUST BE NICE! She’ll notice.)
5. Don’t fear Failure.
So you don’t make that team? Or the popular clique isn’t interested? Failure is not a reflection of you. It’s a sign that the best is yet to be. Keep trying. Keep laughing. Keep pursuing.
6. Be funny.
You have a killer sense of humor and know how to make people laugh (thank you, sarcasm). Use this to your advantage (and no, not with teachers to get out of doing things like homework). Lighten the mood, lift people’s spirits, and always be the positive bubbly light. You are basically my brother’s clone in looks and mine in humor (don’t tell him I said that). You’ve got this.
7. Live in the Light, Be the Light.
And lift others out of the shadows with you. Help them along and build life-long friendships that will change you, mold you and push you. Some of my closest confidantes became that way as locker friends.
8. Push yourself.
Life is full of challenges, but they are what shape and mold you. Push yourself to achieve more than you ever thought possible and do the hard work to get there. Invest in yourself – in your dreams – in your future and try to have fun while doing it.
9. Don’t get hurt!
I see what those football players do to one another and as your aunt, who once helped you put bandaids on your boo-boos, and once swaddled you and cuddled you off to dreamland, please protect yourself, little angel man. YOU ARE A PRECIOUS COMMODITY. So try to keep the entirety of yourself intact.
10. Know we love you.
Through it all, in it all, we are always here for you. No matter what.
We hope these next four years will be some of the best years of your life – that you will find the start of your dreams, the door to your future, and live a life that is full.
We love you – you little punk! xoxoxo
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