1/15/2022

You’ve been looking forward to this day for a while, even though it terrifies you. You are getting older and all that. You’ve learned to deal with it, and you at 28-years-old is kind of learning to cope with that fear.
I want to let you know that you’re my hero. I’ve always talked about how I’ve felt let down by my role models or my heroes, but you haven’t let me down. You know what you’re capable of doing.
You can look back and see all the mistakes or failures and just learn from them. You even laugh about them all the time, don’t you?
I like how you’ve made progress on the goals you set when you turned 25.
I’m glad you’ve finally put aside the pressure of trying to become something by a specific set of time.
I like that you pursued your dreams, and even if you didn’t get to accomplish everything else, you achieved much more than you ever thought you would.
I like that you don’t question the decisions you’ve made along the way.
I know your future kids will probably be thankful that you’re not going to be ready to project your past traumas onto them.
They’ll know you’re not perfect, but they’ll know you have always been working to become a better person and leave the world in a better spot than when you first met it.
I know you’re still treating our parents like the royalty that they are because, after all, they made the sacrifices for you, you’re the one setting the tone for the next generation.
I love the fact you’ve made the travels happen that you always wanted to do.
I like how intelligent you’ve been with your money. Now you have more freedom than you ever had.
I like that you’ve kept writing and made it an actual habit to your everyday life. I can’t wait to compare this piece of writing (do your best not to cringe) to your current work.
I hope you can sleep easy at night and that you take care of your partner as much as she takes care of you.
You’ve become the man I’ve always wanted to be, and I hope you encourage Christian at age 35 as much as I want to root you on.
These numbers never defined you, even though you once thought that was all they did. You’re much more than that, and you did the damn thing. I hope you never forget that.

PS: even if you didn’t do everything I’ve mentioned, who’s to say you can’t start over again?