A Look Into the Past

While this is going to be incredibly embarrassing, I found it interesting enough to write about.

I stopped home today to say hi to my parents and watch the USA/Canada hockey game with my dad. (Oh yeah, they made me veal parmigiana, baked macaroni, sausage, meatballs, and fresh roasted peppers too. I wasn't kidding about that whole food thing.) My parents are cleaning out the house to make some renovations and such, and I came across a few things that made me laugh. A much-too-big Midtown hoodie, a ton of old band shirts, and a letter I wrote to myself almost 11 years ago.

While I was in high school, we had this assignment where we were supposed to write a letter to your future self describing what is going on in your life at the moment and what your hopes are for years down the road. Five years after writing it, they would mail it to the address on file.

Here is the hand-written letter translated in it's entirety (aside from some names being shortened):

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December 2, 1999

Nick,

I bet you do not remember when you wrote this 5 years ago. The assignment was to write what we are doing now and what will be happening in the future. Well, here's what's going on now:

I'm 17, about to be 18. I'm searching for the right college to attend. Every day I go home and play guitar. My good old SG has done me well. Hanging out with my best friends D, J, and H. H has been teaching me guitar lessons for about a year now! I work at HH with my good friend JR. Bowling and Friendly's has become a staple in my life. Still no girlfriend. It sucks, but oh well. I am a huge music freak. My favorite bands are Blink, New Found Glory, Midtown, Rx Bandits, OCG, MXPX, The Hippos, and any other awesome punk/ska. Playing song after song by these bands gives me great pleasure and passes the time.

Five years from now I hope college will be over and I will have a good job. For god sakes I hope I have a girlfriend too. I hope that whatever job I am at is awesome. Not boring and tiring. Just fun and interesting. Who knows. Maybe you are a guitar expert playing in an awesome band. I hope that you are. I hope you're not still a fatass. As long as you are happy, who cares. Somewhere along the 5 years this will sit in someones attic and I hope you find some action. Hopefully your degrees will be earned and you will be a successful young man. If not, get yourself motivated and be like you used to!

I can't wait to see where all of the moronic kids are these days. The ones clubbing, doing E, and smoking dope all day. I hope this letter reaches you. Maybe you can look back and reflect on high school and what a weird time it was.

Keep playing guitar, lose some weight, and get a hot girlfriend. See you in 5 years.

Nick T.

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I love how I told myself to get my ass in gear if I wasn't where I wanted to be in life.

Fast forward:

I made the career happen. I finished graduate school. I lost 70 pounds. I still play guitar.

I guess the only thing left for me to do is get "a hot girlfriend." Oh, the mind of a 17 year old boy.

-Nick