My daughter is studying abroad in Italy this semester.  Prior to her departure, she prepared letters to her sister, her mother and I, as a “care package” while she is away.  Each letter that she prepared is dated, to be opened on a certain date.

Last night I opened the letter that she prepared for this week.  Inside was a copy of a letter that I wrote to her nine years ago.

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I had two reactions while reading my letter to her nine years ago.  My first reaction was “wow, a lot of things have changed in nine years”.  When I wrote the letter to her, she was finishing sixth grade.  So there were some discussions about sixth grade teachers, and seventh grade classes the next year.  My letter included some things about sports (of course it did).

It also included a note about how packed her life was in sixth grade.  Her letter to me this week noted that even though our lives may have seemed full nine years ago, now our lives are packed to the rafters, mostly with good things.

I would not have guessed nine years ago that she would be living in another country right now.

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My other reactions while reading her letter was “she saved one of my letters for nine years”.

Do not underestimate the impact that a letter will have on someone else.  This isn’t the first time that one of my letters has come back from the past.  I save everything that people send me that includes a handwritten note.  That includes greeting cards, thank you notes, and personal letters.

I just learned that my daughter does the same thing.

Hal