Hey Libs,
How are you doing? I’ve been doing well. It’s 2020 and currently there is a world wide pandemic but I won’t give any spoilers about that so you will just have to wait and see!
I’ve been asked to write a letter to you as you transition into a Grade 8 student! Wow! High school! You are pretty brave!
High school is going to be full of changes. You’ll ditch your Grade 7 girlfriends and everyone will kind of be okay with it. You’ll still see them in the hallway and say “hi” to them, but you won’t hang out with them like you had to in elementary. You’ll be very close friends with three other girls: Haley, Rebecca, and Taya, and you will have a lot of fun having sleep overs, singing songs, watching “Criminal Minds”, and hanging out in Bud Miller Park, which for a country girl like you, is a real treat.
In Grade 8, you’ll be full of personality. Your voice is still a little too high pitched and your sense of humour is super random, but your friends will love how silly you are and you’ll have lots of fun being around them. Also, I know you want to be a ventriloquist and you have a very cute Lamb Chop puppet, but I need to crush your dreams now because you will actually in fact be a very successful musician instead. Lamb Chop will be okay on the shelf and you don’t need to bring her to every sleepover. Also, I love the llama tuque that you always wear, but future you will be cringing at photos that are taken around this time. You’ll be appreciating how funny you were and how bold you were, but it still won’t stop the cringe.
You are a very good friend to Haley, Rebecca, and Taya, and I’m very sorry to say that the friendships will change during high school. Haley will move and you will be devastated, but her family is always moving. Rebecca will start to change too, and one of your closest friends will seem very different to you. Becky just had to find her individuality and it’ll be pretty sad for you when you have to get the clothes that you keep at her house just in case you have sleepovers. She will give you broken rosaries that you save from the garbage and you’ll learn to repair them. You and Rebecca won’t talk much and she’ll move schools because she’s a pretty different person than what she once was. If it makes you feel better, you will be invited to her wedding so that’s pretty cool. Taya, since she is a year younger than you, will find some friends in her grade that she will become close with, and that’s good for her.
You will feel a little abandoned and it’s going to hurt a bit. You won’t have many friends who are girls and that will upset you. You do, however, have some friends who are guys. Your group of guys and few girls will be called “The Lunch Table” and you will like your band of misfits. You’ll get teased a little bit because your group is not the most popular and you won’t have much in common, but you stick with them. You might experience some drama with the guys because they will all have a crush on you at some point, but you’ll handle it with grace. It’ll take some time to learn about this, but you have a strong backbone that you can use, your emotions show your strength, and your empathy is not a weakness. You will experience some hard lessons in high school about what you think love looks like, but you will come out stronger from it.
I also understand that you will not feel like yourself with your friend group. When you start hanging out with the guys, you’ll feel quieter and you won’t understand why that is all the time. I will tell you that you will meet some of your best friends when you’re in Grade 12: Tija, Matteo, and Arantza. They will be very close with you and Grade 12 will be more bearable with those friends!
Also, you know that boy Justin who you had a HUGE crush on in Grade 8? He’ll stop crushing on you for a little bit but you’ll still remain friends. At graduation, you’ll decide that you want to date him (after you’ve both matured a little bit), and you’ll date for three years. He’ll go to UBC and you’ll be at the U of S, doing what you love. I don’t want to give everything away, but your relationship will be quite challenging as your heart learns how to love through the distance. You two will feel like completely different people near the end of those three years and you’ll realize you need to be apart to go in the directions God calls you in. I just want you to know that you need to date Justin to learn some extremely hard lessons about yourself. It’s going to be tough, but you’ll make it through. Everything happens for a reason, and even now I wouldn’t change the past.
I will let you know that even though the breakup is a hard one, you will start dating someone who is a really great match for you. You’ll feel the most like yourself when you’re around him and yes, Grade 8 Libbie, you’re right; this guy is farmer (your dream man). And he’s funny and handsome and kind too. This relationship will be the best one yet, and you’ll be surprised about how much you can actually love a person. I can’t tell you his name yet, I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but you’ll know when you meet him!
So, dear Grade 8 Libbie, hang in there. You are beautiful, funny, sassy, intelligent, talented, driven, kind, empathetic, understanding, and so totally, completely loved. You will do some incredible things in your life and you will make lifelong friends in university. Keep doing your thing, do it well, and learn and experience what you need to, so you can grow and follow your calling. Don’t be afraid to learn and make valuable mistakes! Keep up with your Catholic faith and don’t be afraid to ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. You got this, girl!!!
Good luck to you in school and have a wonderful time learning how purposefully made you are for this world. Be brave, Libs!
I love you a lot and I look forward to seeing who we become,
ECUR 165 