Dear 7th Grade Sarah

Dear 7th Grade Sarah,

Please read this in its entirety and resist the urge to roll your eyes until you’ve finished.

Life is going to be pretty rough for you for the next few years.  I’m telling you that now so you’ll have the opportunity to prepare yourself; time to toughen up and get ready.  I want to tell you a few truths so that you have some nuggets of hope to keep in your heart while you get through the living hell that is known as Junior High.

• For the next few years, you’re going to look like Bambi walking on the ice.  Don’t worry, you’ll eventually figure out how to move with some grace. Some.
• It’s hard to be 5 foot 8 at 12.  It doesn’t help that you’re only like 95 pounds.  Please keep your head up whenever you hear someone yell “string bean” down the halls.
• That boy that you’re so obsessed with as a 7th grader?  The one who thinks you’re super weird and won’t even talk to you?  Ironically, you end up dating him senior year in high school.  And this time he pursues YOU.  So um, booyah.
• The people you aren’t very kind to, actually really deserve your respect.  I know it’s a pecking order and you’re just trying to figure out where you fit.  But being rude to someone else because someone has been rude to you is just beetleheaded.  Knock it off.
• You’re going to keep growing.  Please just be prepared.  You’ll be 6 foot by 10th grade.  Don’t worry, eventually you’ll find clothes that fit.  It’s a process, so please be patient.
• Enjoy your gorgeous skin.  You’ll want it back when you’re an adult.
• All of the things you stress over; the things that cause you angst?  Well, in a few short years, you’ll be hard pressed to think of what a single one of those things are.
• You will lose the race for student body president in 9th grade.  It sucks at first, but please still run.  It’s an important rite of passage, and helps keep you in check going forward.
•  Your parents are amazing and deserve your respect.  They care for you more than you will ever know.
• Learn to forgive yourself for not being perfect.  You’ll never be really popular.  You’ll never get bigger boobs (sigh).
• You’ll always be kinda quirky and weird (but oddly enough, you’ll find as an adult that random strangers appreciate your weirdness.  You don’t know the term “blog” yet, but you will.  Oh yes, you will).
• Be gentler with the hearts of two nice boys you’ll date in 10th and 12th grade.
• The harder you try to make things work with that boy in 11th grade, the more things fall apart.  Do yourself and your heart a favor, and just stay friends.  It will be better for everyone in the long run.
• You are not perfect in your eyes.  But you still deserve kindness, because you have worth as a human being.

So, 7th grade Sarah, please take these things to heart.  The next few years won’t be so great for you, but it’s important that you look towards the future – the time after Junior High.

But…we need to talk about this:

Your hair.  I mean, come on already.  What the hell is up with that?  Your hair actually goes out of the photo frame.  You look like the chick from Dilbert.  Get that taken care of, and then we can talk about moving forward.