Dear Future Self,
Hi, 42-year-old Brittany. I hope this letter finds you well and happy. As I write this, I’m about to marry Sam this weekend and my mind is abuzz with about 50 trillion things that need to happen between now and the wedding.
As I embark on this grand journey with Sam, I have a lot of questions about the future. I want to know how things have evolved not only in agriculture, but with you and Sam and the other changes over the 20 years that have come to pass. How is Sam? Is he bald like his mother always threatened he would be? I hope and pray that our marriage and friendship are just as strong now as they were on our wedding day and all the days leading up to it. Please take those stars in your eyes that you have for each other and hold onto them forever.
Are there children, and if so, how many? Right now I hope we have a bunch of little girls to keep Sam perpetually on his toes, but God has it all figured out. I hope that they got my love for words and their father’s math skills (because I have none). I hope that we have raised them to be strong, compassionate and selfless individuals who can think for themselves yet have servant hearts. Have you expanded the farm? How many cows are you milking now, and are there more Jerseys than Holsteins? (Doubtful, but one can dream.) Did we finally breed that cow we felt was worthy of walking the colored shavings at World Dairy Expo? How did you overcome all the challenges that life has thrown at you, and did you become better instead of bitter?
Last but not least, I’ll come back to you. I hope that you look back on the past 20 years with satisfaction and not regret caused by chances you didn’t take. I hope that with every challenge you learn and pass that wisdom on to the next person in line. I hope that every time you get knocked down, you have the courage to get back up and brush yourself off. And finally, I hope that you, my 42-year-old self, is every as amazing and strong as I wish to be not only as a young wife/journalist/farmer…but as a woman and individual.
Kay Olson-Martz says
I hope for you and Sam to always enjoy farming and to always enjoy each other as you do now. Never give up your gift for writing. Hugs to you, Love you, Kay