Friends. These are my friends, despite the low quality of the picture, they are some high quality people I get to spend some of my life with. A couple of weeks ago I turned 20. I had been waiting for that day for quite some time. Here is an open letter to the next ten years:

Dear age 20-29,

Hey, it’s me. The person you’ve been anxiously awaiting to join you. I’M HERE! We’ve had a lot of chats, you and me. Me telling you how ready I was for you to arrive, while you told me that I have some life left to do between that moment and you. Thanks for making me be patient. Your friend, the teens, we did not get along very well. I hope they are a better friend to you than they were me. For about 6 years, teens and I fought a lot. It seemed as if we never agreed on what my life was supposed to look like. We never agreed on where I was supposed to go to school, or where I was supposed to be, or who I was supposed to be with. We never really agreed at how I would react to stress, or sadness either. Sometimes teens would win, and other times we would just agree to disagree. When I turned 17, teens and I just became disconnected. I would stop talking, or emotionally reacting to what teens had planned. But when I turned 18, I told teens that it was my turn to be in charge. My turn to make some decisions, and my turn to be right. Thankfully, teens found some kindness to provide some pretty incredible people in my life. Both family, and friends. Then 19 came around. 19 was just weird. I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of you.

Twenties, please be kind. Be gentle. Be understanding. Be compassionate. Be empathic. Be the complete opposite of your friend, teens. Now, don’t get me wrong, I dont hate your friend, they taught me a lot, I’m just glad we finally parted ways. We are now friends, you and me that is. I hope we remain really good friends for the next ten years. I hope we get to see a lot of new places together, experience some really positive things together, meet some really inspiring people together, and change some lives together. I hope we stick together. I hope that we argue enough to make some decisions hard, but never enough to make them impossible. I hope we peacefully disagree, and you do so because you know what is best for me. Maybe in the next ten years, I’ll get married, or start a family. Please be gentle to me during any of those “monumental,” times. I’m planning to graduate college with us being friends. That will be pretty neat, huh? We’ve got a lot of cool stuff coming up, friend.

All I ask of you, is that the next ten years of my life makes my letter to your friend, the thirties…a thank you letter to you, instead of a plea to them.

Sincerely,

someone who is SO glad you arrived.