Hello, 2024,
I’ve been waiting on you 20 whole years now. In 2004 I said “goodbye” to my childhood as I knew it and walked into adulthood with a promise to revisit my “glory days” with friends, classmates, and frenemies 20 years later.
So, 2024, let’s get some things squared away.
First: take your time. I need the next six months to move slowly. I still have some things I should have done over the last two decades to squeeze into the next few months. Yes, I understand that’s an unreasonable request, but 2023 was unreasonable. It was unreasonably fast. It was unreasonably hot, with unprecedented heat for an entire summer month! So yeah, this year I’m taking charge, and putting my demands on the atmosphere early.
My next demand: the luxury to occasionally stand still, revisit the past, and look ahead. See, this year my first born will walk out of her childhood and into the first parts of her adulthood, and in 20 years we will both approach milestones earmarked to look back with friends, classmates, and frenemies.
Lastly, 2024, I need you to get a filter. If it’s meant to hurt or harm, leave it out of your plans. If it’s meant to “build character,” send me the cliff notes. If you have a “shake up” in mind, don’t let it materialize. Just put it on the back burner. This year, you’re going to be good, and the spots that you deem bad, run it through your filter and stitch it to something to turn for my good.
Thanks,
Angie (Angela Grayson)
Lanier High School C/O 2004