A letter to a friend

"One of these days, I'm going to sit down and write a long letter to all the good friends I've known."

May 26, 2015

Dearly friend I use to have,

I am sorry for how things have ended up between the two of us. Depending on the time in which you read this letter it may either be hard or easy to recall the time where the both of us could not imagine being separated. That we would never be divided and we had to force oneself to remember our life before we had met one another as if it was a completely set aside past life experience that of more into comparison to an apparition of a vivid dream within the imagination. Ironically now it seems to be the exact opposite in the present setting given the circumstances brought on both by human consequence and arguably more by the indifference of constant change. There is a thing about regret. Like most things in the world, you can only see it one of two ways. With the element of regret which can either stagnate ourselves within the confines of slow sinking pity of how things could have gone, or we can place it in the back of our minds for as we may cross a similar road. A road it similarly originated; in which we can be both prepared for what is to come, what can be changed. What is, and could be avoided.

The purpose in which this letter is for is what may be my last message to you; my greatest and arguably only true friend thus far. The one who may have just known me greater than that of my own family, and even to that of my very self. My explanation for not noting this first thing is that I wanted my apology to be the introductory subject in which you were to read first of this passage. The rest of which I have to state is my advice to you in hopes it can help better your future.

You always have had a struggle for understanding your worth. Like many young women (and young men for the matter), both older and younger, understanding what you deserve and what you do not can be hard to comprehend both mentally and emotionally. We are told things sometimes regularly, and sometimes irregularly that are so over used and ultimately dismissed because of this no matter the importance of their meaning. So what I am to say now is most likely going to have a similar effect unless you really take it in. Almira Rose Hayes you are of great importance. Doesn't matter what your parents say, what I have said at one time said, or anyone has is or will say for that matter. I have been expressing to you this since day one that you are like no one else. There is greatness in you. However it is what you do with this greatness as well as what you already have done that will make you who you are. We all make choices but remember that in the end our choices will make us. And life is full of choices just as a cheap $10 CVS carnation is full of chocolates. Doesn't mean all of them are going to be good. In fact some may seem great at first, but just you just wait for that after taste.

Do not live your life solely pleasing others. Some of us get so caught up in the life of another person or persons that we forget we have an individual life of our own. That we too are just as important as the other with our own set of traits and habits to decipher. You must decide who you are before someone decides it for you. However, be careful who you make yourself into Almira because some days you will have to look in the mirror. When those days come around what do you really want starring back at you?

Do not live your life solely for yourself. The narrow minded may say that this is in contradiction to my last statement; however, it is not. Sometimes there are medians in this life. Just make sure you find the right sand bars that won't end up withering, forcing the current to drag you to one sea or the other. Selfishness is a cancer. It will consume you. Yet it will always find something to devour, planned six steps ahead of its last meal. We can feel this, yet we somehow continuously find ourselves fallen prey. It's a tragic truth that most of the time we won't get what we want. However what is quite possibly even more tragic is found in the moments in which we actually get it all. Happiness is only a moment before you need more happiness.

Attempt to make as little mistakes as possible. For some people this isn't common sense and they reserve a section, or entirety of their life to make poor decisions purposefully and none purposefully. To “experiment” and “try everything once”. Live for today and forget about tomorrow because it doesn't exist. However it very much does, and as today will always end; tomorrow will always begin. You don't need to make a mistake for yourself to understand it. The fool does not learn from their mistakes, the average learn from their own, but the wise learn from both theirs and others.

Live in search of the truth. As I'm sure you're aware, there are a lot of lies in the world around us. Plenty of these lies are both convincing and dismissing depending on when, where, and how you are fed them. Search for god. You may not always understand him, plenty of times doubt him, and perhaps even question his actual existence. I have been there numerous times. However, no matter what road you may lead off to travel in rebellion, if ever, will always feed back to him one way or another. Just because you may not like the truth does not mean it is not the truth. The truth may be both painful, relieving, or an unfortunately more than dramatically common bitter sweet combination of the two. Following the lord is hard. That's why there has only ever been one Jesus Christ to ever walk on this god forsaken planet.

I would like to thank you for the many memories we have shared. This is by far the hardest paragraph for me to focus on. I have never been closer to someone, nor have I ever enjoyed another's company to such a degree. It didn't matter the time or the place. It did not even matter what we were doing. I had never felt so safe, yet in contradiction I had never been so vulnerable. You are burned into my mind. And I'm not so sure if I want that to be changed right now. Maybe one day I will. Maybe I will not. From the pumpkin patch, to the our first 1 on 1 volleyball match at the park, to the moment you first ended it 11 at night as I stood on my grandparents front porch in the hot north carolinian humidity pleaded for you to change your mind, back round right to the moment I first met you. From the family gatherings, to the phone calls late at night while you are in Bluefield freaked out by your that old house and the mentally unstable relatives. I want to keep all those memories. And that's just what I'm going to do.

3 years is a long time considering life is short. On average I, as a male, will only get 28 of those in my life, and you, as a female, might only 1 or 2 more of those give or take some based on your life decisions. Keeping that in mind, I've spent most of my high school life with you as a major part of it. Therefore I don't want lose touch if I don't have to. I've burned enough bridges this year alone. I do not want to add you to the list. You can contact me anytime on the emails and phone number below. The emails will most likely be valid until something replaces email. I don't care if you contact me 5, 10, or 20 years from now (however I would prefer a bit sooner). I will always have your back.

I miss you terribly

and I'd give anything to catch back up,

yours always,

Mr. Burns

Contacts:

-#########

Phone

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(please just keep the letter)