I've been tagged: Note to my 15 year old self.

I write to you now from the perspective of a 58 year old woman - a crone. You have just started out on your life's journey. You still live at home with your step mom and Uncle Joe. Life is a great big unknown, especially your own inner self.

I say to you: be not afraid. You will journey far and wide on this earth and you will learn again to listen to that voice inside you - the one you used to hear loud and clear before your step mother put a stop to all that when you were 8. You will be part of the hippie era, the generation gap, sex, drugs and rock and roll. And you will come through it with an ethic of your own and a spiritual path that will lead you deep within.

Gary and Nunzio will play roles in your adult life, but not what you think now. You will have babies and grandbabies, you will live as a pioneer, you will study paychology, you will meet your soul mate. You will love with all your heart and learn about loss and change. You will have a good life - so relax and be yourself. The people you think are so important now will fade away and be no more than the glimmer of a memory.

Before any of this takes place you will have to learn to grieve - for the loss of your mother and your father. You cannot stuff unpleasant feelings away. They will find their way to the surface when you least expect them. You heart will be broken but it will mend and be stronger for it.

I love you, young Saralee. Be kind to yourself. And now, what I REALLY wish I was able to tell my 15 year old self is this: Your brother in law was right when he gave you that boring lecture about what to do with your life: learn everything you can about computers. And buy Microsoft and Starbucks stock – as much as you can as fast as you can. You’ll thank me or rather I’LL thank YOU! :)