Dear Kristin,

There will be several circumstances in your life that you may not think you can handle, but you can.  Know that you are strong and resilient.  You have a support system that is very strong.  God and your family provide a strong foundation.  Your faith may shake, but your foundation is built on solid rock.

You will fall in love shortly after you move away to college.  Even though you will love him deeply, there will be many moments when you’ll wonder if there’s the possibility of more.  Please recognize the warning signs.  The two of you have some bumps along the way, but he’ll propose to you when you’re 19. You will know it’s coming, because the two of you will talk a lot about marriage.  But in that moment, you will experience a sinking feeling in your stomach and hesitate before saying yes.  Please listen to that feeling.  Saying no might save you from much pain, terror and sleepless nights.  I know you’re hard headed, though, and you’ll make this mistake.  It will lead you to devastating despair and emotional turmoil, but you can survive it.

There is more out there.  At about the same time that you should say no to a proposal, your personality will click so perfectly with someone you meet in the residence hall where you work.  The two of you will be able to talk and laugh for hours at a time.  There will be moments so perfect that you’ll want time to stop.  You’ll have the same wide-ranging taste in music.  You’ll both be introverts who enjoy being silly with people you’re most comfortable around.  You’ll become best friends very quickly.  True soulmates.  This love will be real, strong and will last.  It will be okay to trust it.

The two of you will get married a couple weeks before your 22nd birthday.  It will be a wonderful, joyous day and you will be surrounded by people who love you.  Your honeymoon will be so fun and picturesque that you’ll talk about it with each other for years to come.  While it sounds cliche, you’ll truly be married to your best friend.

You’ve always been driven to be a career woman, but this love will change you.  Around the time that you’re about to begin graduate school, your heart will start to yearn for a child.  A surprise pregnancy will shock you in the first week of graduate school.  You’ll get very sick with this little angel, and you’ll be forced to quit school and your graduate assistantship.  Even though it’ll devastate you, you’ll be okay.  You will actually come to enjoy being a stay-at-home-mom!

Your baby boy will bring you so much love that it will sustain you through some very dark times.  Your mind will venture to some shadowy places with postpartum depression and anxiety, but you’ll survive.  The love of your family will carry you through.  It will be a tough fight, and you’ll probably have to really examine yourself in order to find your way again.  But you are stronger than you may think.  You will prevail.

Keep your chin up.  Trust your head in the next few years, because your heart will steer you wrong.  Trust your heart after that, because your mind will fail you for a while.  Trust your faith always; it will be hard for you at times, but it’s the one thing that can never fail you.

Love deeply.  You will never regret loving.

You are enough.

With love,
The almost-25-year-old you

This week’s prompt: Write a letter to yourself at age 16.