January 31, 2014
A Letter From the Grave
Death is a hard thing to grasp. It comes to us all in one manner or another during our lives. But nothing is more heart wrenching than the death of a child, of a child who had so much more life to live and who's potential is cut short. Often we are left with nothing more than memories or a few mementos of our departed.
Taylor Scout Smith was one such young girl. At the tender age of 12 she contracted a deadly strain of pneumonia and died on January 5th. She left behind her parents and an older brother. But what was truly remarkable was what her parents found while cleaning out her room after her death.
In a sealed and taped envelope was a letter to her future self to be opened ten years later on April 13th, 2023. Taylor writes, congratulating her older self for graduating high school and encourages her to go back if she didn't. She writes about God and serving him and attending church. At the end though she reminds herself that its been ten years since she wrote the letter and that good and bad things have happened and to just go with it.
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Sometimes we don't understand what influence our actions can have, even those as simple as writing a letter to your future self. It's an incredible reminder of the power our words have.
Maybe its also a reason to hold your children, your spouse, your friends, and family a little bit closer and remember that life is short and precious. Its strange how potent Taylor's last two sentences are and how they offer strength and advice for her parents when she only meant it for herself.
Taylor Scout Smith was one such young girl. At the tender age of 12 she contracted a deadly strain of pneumonia and died on January 5th. She left behind her parents and an older brother. But what was truly remarkable was what her parents found while cleaning out her room after her death.
In a sealed and taped envelope was a letter to her future self to be opened ten years later on April 13th, 2023. Taylor writes, congratulating her older self for graduating high school and encourages her to go back if she didn't. She writes about God and serving him and attending church. At the end though she reminds herself that its been ten years since she wrote the letter and that good and bad things have happened and to just go with it.
WJHL-TV: News: Weather, and Sports for Johnson City, TN
Sometimes we don't understand what influence our actions can have, even those as simple as writing a letter to your future self. It's an incredible reminder of the power our words have.
Maybe its also a reason to hold your children, your spouse, your friends, and family a little bit closer and remember that life is short and precious. Its strange how potent Taylor's last two sentences are and how they offer strength and advice for her parents when she only meant it for herself.