My dearest, sweet 7 year old Jennie,

Happy Birthday! I guess by now you’ve figured out that your big brother Jim was just kidding and there’s no test you have to pass before you can turn 7. (He will never stop joking around with you like that.) It’s my birthday too, except today I’m turning 27. There’s a lot that happens over the next 20 years of your life. Some of these things I want to apologize for and some, well, some will just be good to know. You won’t understand what I’m telling you now, but in 20 years it will all make perfect sense. Here we go….

• For starters, I know you get frustrated being the baby of the family. It’s never going to change. You will always be the Little Sister and they are always going to look out for you, try to protect you and be your Big Brothers and Sister. One day you’ll realize just how lucky and grateful you are for that.
• Your first (and only) detention in grade school is for initiating a peanut fight. Own it.
• Right now you are living in state #3 / city #3. You’ve got a few more moves on the way. I’m in state #6 / city #7 right now. *Heads up: the move to state #4 / city #5 will scare the hell out of you but it will be the best year of your life. You might want to start learning Spanish now.
• Being labeled as having the dynamic personality of the family ain’t all that bad.
• In high school I’m sad to say you begin an awful downward spiral. You are going to develop very twisted views of the perfect body image which will lead to doing harmful and hurtful things to try and attain that image. This will occur off and on for years but eventually the cycle will come to an end as you become comfortable with who you are. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough. I’m sorry I starved you, forced you to rid yourself of food, and for all the lies I made you tell to cover this painful secret. After college, your self-consciousness fades to give way to self-assurance, and even today it’s still growing.
• There’s going to be an incident Senior year of high school where you will wake your mother in the wee hours of the morning to speak to a police officer. You will never live this moment down. It will be a running joke in your family for years to come.
• It takes a handful of spiral perms before you learn it is not a good look for you.
• In college you are going to get your heart broken. Bad. For a few years you will look back absolutely horrified at how silly, naive, stubborn and humiliated you were. Honey – it’s all part of the journey and by the time you’re 27, the horrified part has slipped away and you will look back at these times with a smile, a little bit of laughter and say “Well that was one hell of a ride.“

*Note: You will have this reaction when looking back at nearly all times in your life – the good, the bad, even the heinously ugly – don’t worry, just keep the journey going.

• Your sister is going to become your dearest friend. Regardless of your differences, arguments and struggles, she’s always going to love you and be there for you and vice versa. Always.
• Stick with your writing. Trust me.
• When you are 24, you will go through the darkest time of your life. I won’t tell you what it is, but I want you to know this: the darkest time will spark a change greater than you could ever imagine. You will begin to see your world in a whole new way and I’m so excited for you to get to this part of your life.
• And finally …. I’m sorry I stopped believing in the magic. This one single act caused an astounding ripple effect and much more than the magic I once believed in, that you believe in now, was locked away; held captive by a wall that grew thicker as time went by. But don’t fret, little one. Remember that big change I told you about? Well, I finally believe in the magic once again. It seemed like it took an eternity to get it back, but I promise, this time I’ll never let it go.

Well now, I know you are probably very confused by all of this but take comfort that in 20 years you will nod your head and smile. This by no means is all the highs and the lows, just a few pertinent points for you to keep an eye out for. But it’s time for you to go celebrate your 7th birthday…..enjoy your yellow cake with chocolate frosting, it’s always going to be your favorite.

Happy Birthday to you, dear sweet Jennie Boo!

love & magic,

Jennie B

p.s. You finally get to live by the Ocean one day. ;)

p.p.s. This song is your celebration song starting at about age 25 …. enjoy!