I thought of doing this while daydreaming earlier this morning (I often daydream - it’s a Pisces thing apparently) - what follows below is a letter to myself in the future…
To Jonathan - do not open until 22nd January 2016
Hello Jonathan, greetings from your past self. At the time of writing you were sat at a desk in the office of your then employer just outside of Marlow, whiling away lunchtime before a hectic week ahead. You had worked here for five years, and although you sometimes wondered if the grass was greener elsewhere, you did in fact quite like it.
You have been married to W for a bit over five years, sharing her with Simpson - the cat she owned before you met. You’ve been through quite a lot together so far, and are both apprehensive about adopting children. The review panel is due soon, and you wonder what the future holds.
How many children did you adopt? What were there names? Where were they from? What is it like being a Dad?
How long did Simpson live? (knowing him, he’s still alive, and grumpier than ever)
Do you still live in the same house? Did you ever get that safe removed from the chimney that the previous owners left when they moved out? How about the front door - at what point did it fall completely to pieces?
How are your family? At the time of writing your nephew is 8 years old, and has just moved to Lincolnshire. Your brother is working in London still while looking for a job up there. Your parents are enjoying retirement in Cornwall, and your Dad has started writing a blog…
How did your cousin from San Francisco get on? Did she move to England in the end? Did she marry that rugby player?
Does Microsoft still have a monopoly? Windows Vista has just been released, and everybody is horrified by it’s hardware requirements. 2 gig of ram is a lot right now.
You cycle to work every day at the moment, and it keeps you fairly fit - do you still do that ?
Are you still in touch with the same friends? The singer songwriter in Oklahoma, the glass artist in Oregon, or the girl from Cornwall you visited last Christmas?
Do you still write a blog? Have you written that novel yet - the one about the fictional world that only continues to exist if children believe in it?
Your work lunchtime is about to come to an end, so it’s perhaps time to draw this to a close.
In 2006 you were happy. You were married to a wonderful lady who you adore, you live in a big old house that you secretly love, you do a job that others aspire to, and you have more friends than at any time in your life so far. Here’s hoping this message finds you well, and that you know the answers to all the questions contained…
It’s funny, isn’t it - writing a letter to your future self - it turns into a never ending stream of questions. Wanting to tell yourself things about your current life is hard.