Short Letter To My Younger Self.

Gold cherry

By skinner_jennifer

Tue, 12 Mar 2019
  • 9745 reads
22 comments
 

Tuesday 12th March 2019.

 

Dear younger me,

 

I was just sitting here in the kitchen with a coffee on a Tuesday afternoon, listening to the rain pouring and thought about you and how fast time slips away, but then a youngster wouldn't be concerned with things like that, you were too busy growing and learning. Do you remember you were such a dreamer back then? Just like me.

 

I expect there are things you recall from a very young age that I've forgotten, but I do remember how tough life was back then for mum and dad in that two up, two down condemned cottage with an outside toilet, not that you'd have noticed having never experienced anything else.

 

Do you recall back in...I think it was 1963 or 64 how life took an unexpected change, when dad got a new well paid job as a paint rep? You moved into a lovely semi detached three bedroom house, with that more than welcome indoor bathroom? No more tin bath hanging on the kitchen wall, or having to go outside for the toilet, it was like another world and a dream come true for mum.

 

How wonderful it was to walk down the long, huge garden to those magical woods. You loved the jungle of long grass and weeds, but I liked it better when dad worked hard turning it into a stunning flower and vegetable paradise, he was a magician at making everything beautiful, so was mum later on.

 

You really don't know how lucky you were to have those woods, I remember Jenny when you and your friend found masses of bluebells, so many in fact you both picked bucket fulls of them, how lucky! Not a chance of that now in 2019, there are strict rules about picking wild flowers, but in 1963 there wasn't the disappearance of so much of our wildlife as there is now.

 

I smile when remembering how you went through a faze of wanting to be a secret agent and how you spent hours writing on bits of paper in code, then hiding them under the landing carpet. Do you recall dad lifting the carpet years later to lay a brand new one? He found all those bits of paper that were long forgotten, you had no idea what you'd written, and I still haven't to this day.

 

I do still have those scrap books you started creating when you were about nine up in the attic, there are pictures of the Beatles and the Stones, remember you could never makeup your mind which group you preferred. Then there was Little Joe from Bonanza who you had a crush on and collected any pictures from magazines, cutting them out and sticking them in your scrapbook.

 

You only had two channels to choose from on the television back then, but now we have hundreds with repeat after repeat and catch up, it's the digital age we live in, but it's no good talking to you about it, you'd never understand life today, in fact I'm still learning myself.

 

You wouldn't believe the things you achieve as you grow, but be sure life has so much in store, for that you can be sure.

 

Take care young Jenny... my love goes out.

 

From a wiser you.

 

xxxx

Certificate U
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Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)
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Comments

Submitted by celticman on

Do you remember when you were such a dreamer. Just like me. (well it is you, you're talking to) but I'm a dreamer too. 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

loved this Jenny!

You did a great job of balancing good and not so good for then and now - outdoor loo/ tin bath with buckets of bluebells, and indoor bathroom with wildlife threatened. And I liked the details of your scrapbooks too, and the notes under the carpet :0)

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Jenny, This is such an intriguing idea. And interestingly, I've been working on something I started ages ago of pretending I'm writing to my father about changes that have happened since he died.

I especially liked 'I expect there are things you recall from a very young age that I've forgotten,'
– a really clever thought! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

You can tell this is heartfelt Jennifer, imagining the junior you. Life is such a mystery and in some ways time is irrelevant. You were very lucky to have those woods at the bottom of your garden, I can just imagine escaping into those as a youngster and how they opened up new worlds and connected you with nature.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Such an original idea, Jenny. I wish I had had it myself. Brava! 

Luigi xx

 

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This is lovely Jenny - a well deserved pick of the day - congratulations!

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Jack,

we're so lucky to be dreamers, to connect with our imaginations and keep that magic alive. 

Thank you so much for reading and I'm glad you could identify.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Good morning Di,

It's strange when you've never known anything different, how having to go out to the loo and having only one bath a week is normal. My dad worked day and night to keep a roof over our head when we lived in the cottage, so when he got the job as a paint rep, it was so much easier having just one job, which he kept till he retired.

Mum loved flowers and never complained when we came back with all the bluebells, she'd just find another bucket...smile. smiley

Glad you enjoyed the bit about the scrap books. I still have them, but some of the pages have stuck together and have gone slightly brown with age, but the memory still lingers.

Always appreciate you stopping by to read and sharing your thoughts.

Jenny. smiley

 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Rhiannon,

I never realized when I started writing this letter that it would be intriguing to anyone else. I think you should go ahead and write to your father of the changes that have happened since he died. I know from writing this letter that it made me aware of things I'd forgotten about, also giving me an insight into the world and person I am today.

Many thanks for sharing your thoughts and reading which are really appreciated.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hello Noo,

what an unexpected, exciting surprise to see I'm pick of the day.

I'm over the moon with the golden cherries and love the beautiful picture of bluebells. Certainly brings those memories flooding back.

So many thanks and glad you enjoyed. smiley

From a very happy Jenny.

 

 

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Jane,

you're right, I was extremely lucky to have the woods at the bottom of the garden. Spent long days playing in them. We had an old quarry at the top of the woods and made dens, it was all one big adventure.

Nature is so important, like you say although I didn't realize it at the time, it probably had a profound influence on the person I am today.

Life certainly is a mystery as you say and it's great when a piece of writing can give pleasure. I never imagined this letter would mean so much.

Thank you so much for stopping by to read and sharing your thoughts.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Wow! Luigi,

I'm so surprised this letter had the affect it did. Never did I imagine when I put it on, that it would be appreciated by so many.

I really like the idea of it being original and I'm grateful for reading your words, they mean a lot.

Many thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. smiley

Jenny. xx

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

It's always nice to get recognition insert, especially when it's so unexpected.

Thank you for your kind words and for stopping by to read. Appreciated as always.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

The one thing I would really like to tell "my younger self" is to listen to the advice of older people, funnily enough!

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Trouble is Tom, that when we're young we think we know it all. It's about learning as we go through life, then looking back and putting those experiences into some kind of context, a bit like a patchwork quilt...if that makes sense.

Don't ever have regrets, that's my motto.

Thank you so much for reading and leaving a comment.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on

HI Jen... what a great letter!  I often think of my self as the before and after person, seems you do too. Really enjoyed it, Glad things got better.. and may they always continue to be so!

L G Meadows

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Good morning L G Meadows,

it's a pleasure that you can identify with me. Hope you share great childhood memories too. 

Many thanks for the lovely comment and for sharing your thoughts which are appreciated.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by L G Meadows on

What can I say? You inspired me to write a letter too.... thanks for that. I needed a bit of a prod to get writing again and your piece really got my mind working! Thanks so much. I feel I know you better and I am sure others that read your letter did also.

 

Submitted by forest_for_ever on

I am of an age when looking back happens ten fold to looking foward.  I loved this letter to younger self.  I immediately went back to a sunny day in 1963 when mum and I  were walking to the shops.  Life was forever.

I try to tell my students at school, but I know they cannot hear me.  One day they may write ' a letter to younger self'  

 

I absolutely loved this brillant piece of writing.

Graham

aka forest

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

It's so uplifting when someone else can relate to what I'm writing. I know what you mean about feeling like life was forever. The one thing I do remember was the innocence of not thinking but just doing. Life was certainly for living back then even though we didn't have much, but we also didn't have too many expectations, just accepted and enjoyed what we did have.

I hope your students do get to write to their younger selves, I think they'll be surprised at how life changes.

Thank you so much for stopping by to read and I'm very grateful for your lovely comment.

Jenny. smiley

 

Submitted by Nolan on

A crush felt like the end of the world instead it was just a lesson the heartache just school fees no big deal in the end. A little girl a prized pearl lost, I would not hear but the truth is it was me who was the treasure I wouldn't believe and words to no avail.

Not to be overly passionate and take things easy as in Yates, "She bid me take life easy as the leaves grow on the tree, she bid me take love easy as the grass grows on the weirs. But I being young and foolish with her would not agree, I was young and foolish and now am full of tears.

"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Nolan,

your comment should be a written poem, it has a personal deepness about it. 

Thank you for stopping by.

Jenny.