January 9, 2010

Dear Emily,


Today is your sixteenth birthday.
This past year has been..hard.  You've been through more than your everyday, average teenage girl.  Anorexia has plagued your life, friends have been lost, there have been long periods of isolation.  Despite these hardships and more, this has perhaps been the most triumphant year of your life.  Sure, Anorexia has plagued your life, but you've retained so much of that life.  And, yes, friends have been lost, but only to be regained.  Those times of isolation were difficult, but you've managed to overcome it with welcoming people inside your world.


Obviously, this year has been a year of change.  Change in a disease that almost took your life, change in your mindset, change in the way you see the world.  Among all this change there is one thing that has and will always remain constant -- you.  You are more amazing and wonderful than you will ever know.  Even if the little whisper in your ear tells you the opposite, nothing about you is not good enough, not pretty enough, not skinny enough.  You are you, and that's all you need to be.


This letter is odd, yes, considering the sending and receiving end are the same.  But, hopefully, you will look back on this letter 15, 20 years from now and know that this is the truth.  Hopefully, you will have found that you love yourself regardless of appearance, flaws, and mistakes.  


Being sixteen, although still young, is a blessing.  You have made it this far and you have so much life ahead of you.  Don't waste it.  Enjoy it. Love it. Live it.


Love,