Dear Evan from Five Years Ago,

Good god, you are such a stupid, pretentious, ignorant, inexperienced, and lazy person. No, drinking five Dr. Peppers a day isn’t “cool,” and nobody really cares about how good you are at Halo. This might sound harsh, but it’s the truth. As a person that had to deal with the consequences of the bad reputation you set for yourself, I sincerely hate you.

I do not hate all of you, I just want you to grow up. In fact, I love you even more. You are such an innocent person, and the winds that are blowing in life are setting you to a wonderful destination. You are incredibly talented, and no, not at Xbox. I admire your ability to tolerate the extremely poor conditions you are living through. Your step-mother passed away, but you are a fighter of extreme dedication. You persevered through the breakup of your first love (yes, it was love). To this, I am fond of you--of us.

I realize that you are an equal part of me. Much of the bad memories of the past will go away. As the dust settles from the wreckage of your life, you will emerge a much better person.

You will look back at all the mistakes you’re making. After all, you’re still figuring life out. Your mistakes will lay the foundation for who you will become.

You will lose all of that disgusting acne.

You will come to feel comfortable talking to people without fear of rejection.

You will find your purpose.

You will go on to make foolish decisions and never really see the consequences of them.

You will accomplish so much more than you ever thought you would, my friend. You will graduate high school and live to find the good things in life. Your Xbox addiction will manifest into an addiction of laughter, wonderful memories, and, of course, caffeine.

You will go on to find the ways to make others smile. Whether it be a customer at McDonald’s (oh, I forgot to mention you’ll get a job there), or your boss at the law firm.

You will get to college, and not only afford it, but do well.

You will have so many things you never would have fathomed.

You will love the way you look in your own body.

You will be able to look at someone in the eyes.

You, my dear friend, will become me.

You, my dear friend, will love where you’ll be in five years.

After all, you were the one that got us here.

Sincerely yours,

- Evan from the future.