A Letter To Dee

Dear Dee,

If you’re reading this letter I want you to know that we just made history! This is my first letter out to the Middle East and this is your first letter from Canada. And if it’s not your first letter from Canada, just act like it is, for my sake. Please? I need these bragging rights.

We don’t really know each other, but that’s okay! This won’t be awkward. Well, it might be because I’m writing it and I never know what I’m going to say until my fingers tell me.

But don’t worry! Just look past my lunacy, laugh a lot, and know that I’m saying “Sorry” in my head about 103% of the time because I’m Canadian. 

You should also know that I’m writing this while listen to rap music. It might explain a lot.

I was looking through your blog and came across the fact that you recently finished high school. Congratulations! 

As we say in Canada, “High School? More like Bye School!”

Okay, that phrase hasn’t really caught on yet. But when it does, I expect full credit for it. 

I remember when I finished high school the thing I was going to miss the most was the food in the cafeteria. I had a sombre final lunch with pizza and fries. It was depressing, really. Like a bad breakup. No blood was involved, thankfully. I didn’t get ketchup that day.

Did I use the word “sombre” correctly in that last paragraph? Or did I just unknowingly allude to the hairstyle that girls have? Please hold.

Hmm…I think I might have, though the initial style is called “ombre”. 

Ombre…sombre…why is the world afraid to just name this look, “Sombrero”? The letters are there! Just add two more. Can you imagine?

“Hi, I’d like the sombrero today?”

Man, that would be perfect. I’m can picture the marketing campaign now. 

Sometimes, I think I’m the only genius in the world and the day will finally come where I fix everyone else’s simple mistakes. 

Sorry, that last line was very un-Canadian of me. I’m normally a very humble person. The kind of guy who let’s people go ahead of them in the lunch line because they don’t feel like getting in an argument when food is within earshot.

That’s how you get food poisoning, by the way. The food overhears your potty mouth and then plots its revenge on you.

I told you this letter wouldn’t be awkward! Less about me though. Back to you and finishing high school!

I should warn you, the next stage of your life is going to be entirely different from anything you’ve ever experienced. But don’t be nervous about it. You can’t really prepare for college.

You just throw yourself into it, say “I’m here, now what?” and see where the minutes on the clock take you. 

Or, if you’re like me, you’ll be excited about there being more than one cafeteria at your disposal. 

How I’m not 400 lbs. is a miracle.

Dee, you requested this letter from me so I can motivate you to find a summer job. I sincerely hope I’m not too late! If I am too late, I hope my words stay with you for future situations where you need to find some motivation. 

Hold on, I have to get into Captain Speech mode. 

And, I’m there.

Life is full of things you don’t want to do. If it were up to me, I would stay in bed all day. But I can’t. The food and TV are downstairs.

Once we accomplish the things we don’t want to do, then they become things that we do want to do. The more experiences you have, the more experiences you’re ready for. 

I was like you and in many ways I still am. A weird, introverted kid who wanted to enjoy the leisure that the summer months provided and not do anything else. Until one summer I got a job at a camp.

I never knew I liked camp. I never knew I liked kids. I just threw myself into it, like a bird flying into a window, unsure of what to expect but unafraid to find out the outcome. And the outcome turned out to be pretty great. 

Birds don’t have the same luck when they fly into windows, but that happens sometimes. Sometimes you’ll hit your face on a piece of glass and fall to the ground. Then you get back up and find someone to sue.

You told me you love to read. I believe that life is about sharing our passions with others. I’m sure there is a library, or a bookstore that would be thrilled to have you! And when you apply, you have to be fearless. Don’t worry about the other people who might be applying.

They don’t exist. They. Don’t. Exist. You’re not trying to get a stranger a job. You’re trying to get yourself a job. Advocate for yourself and tell your future employer why you are the only person for the job.

It might turn out, it might not. But don’t sabotage yourself by saying someone is a better fit. 

You can do it. I know you can. And I think you know you can, too. Fifteen minutes of courage is all you need. 

I hope that advice helped!

To close out this letter, I want to answer the question you asked of me. Remember it? You asked if I believe in coincidence.

My answer is, sometimes. 

Like if I’m playing a board game and say I’m going to roll a four, and then I roll a four, I think of that as a coincidence. I also think of it as more proof that I’m a genius, but I digress.

In the grand scheme of things, I don’t know how much coincidence has to do with life.

I think every single person is travelling through life at their own pace and going through their own experiences. I think everything we go through helps prepare us for something else, something in our future that we never know is coming.

I do think that everything, or almost everything, happens for a reason. And I say that because we have the benefit of hindsight. I can look back on my life and see how things played out and know exactly why they played out.

When things happen to us, we never fully understand why they happen. It isn’t until more time runs off the clock before we see the full picture. 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we meet people at certain points in our life. I think we meet people when it’s time for our paths to cross because we can each offer something to the other. 

There will be people who don’t agree with me, but who cares? 

Sorry if this letter got less humorous toward the end! There I am apologizing again.

Dee, I wish you the best! Life is tough, but so are the people living it. Introverts are capable of so much. Don’t sell yourself short and don’t worry about situations you can’t control. 

Good luck in your studies and feel free to brag that you got a letter from a friend in Canada! 

Books and hair looks,

Icy P

(That’s my rapper name. Don’t ask.)