Dear January me,

I know you’re sick right now with covid. Or still trying to recover. Spoiler alert: it’s going to take months before you feel OK again. Just keep pushing through.

I know you’re wondering how 2022 is going to go for you. You think this year is your year. Instead, this year is going to be a rough year. You’re gonna struggle. You’re gonna feel bad (sick) half the time. You’re definitely going to cry.

But — you’ll be alright. You’ll still have good times. You might not do everything you wished you would do, but you’ve still made memories.

You’ll visit your family in Illinois. You’ll feel bad, and won’t find out why till later, but you’ll still have a fun time.

In April, you’re going to burn your hand at work. You will cry a little bit, but just let your coworker put aloe on your hand and then when you get home you can put Vaseline on it. Makes it stop burning instantly.

During the summer, you’re gonna help Pa with farming. Uncle is supposed to help, but with him sick, you’ll end up doing most of the planting. It’s going to be really hot, and again, you won’t feel well, but you push through. I’m going to cherish the times we’ve helped Pa.

There’s other fun things that you will do with your friends. You’ll go hiking a couple times. The annual strawberry festival is fun as always. You’ll even go twice. You’ll go to Nashville for a day with some of your best friends. You’ll meet interesting people who may or may not stay in your life. Overall, life will still be good.

I’m not going to lie, your love life is going to suck this whole year, but you just need to focus on feeling better. I truly believe that the perfect person is out there for us. We just have to be patient.

I know you’re probably thinking “man, this year is gonna suck,” and honestly, a lot of parts do suck, but there’s a lot of great parts too. It’s just one of those years where we grow. Sometime soon we’ll thrive.

Keep on keeping on.

Love, your December 2022 self