I made this layout for A Million Memories. And for Ali's Yesterday/Today class.

It's a photo of me when I was little. Here's what the journaling reads:

I look at this picture and I see this little girl who looks like she's having a good time. It's her birthday. Maybe the third one. She doesn't look sad to me. She doesn't look like life has broken her yet. I want to take her into my arms and give her a hug.

I want to tell her that she's going to go through some rough patches in her life. That she will be teased mercilessly, rejected by her so-called friends. She will feel lonely and sad and some of these feelings will stay with her for the rest of her life. She will feel an insurmountable need to run away. To start fresh. She will think that she can't trust anyone to keep her secrets. She will pour her heart out to her diaries. For years. She will feel like if only she could leave and start over, another life, another place, she could fix it all. She will be loved but it won't feel like it's enough. There will be years of feeling small and feeling sad. Alone.

I want to give her a hug and tell her to just hold on. To have faith.

Because on the other side of this sorrow and loneliness, she will find an amazing life. She will make forever friends. She will find a man who loves her as deeply as she loves him. She will have two amazing children and feel more love than she imagined possible. A successful career that she actually enjoys. She will travel. She will experience life. She will discover art. And photography. And writing. Books will save her life over and over again. She will be loved. Truly loved.

I want to tell this little girl her life will be amazing. She will have to go through some turbulence to get there but it will be worth every second of it. I want to hold her and say:

Hold on, little girl, it's all waiting for you on the other side.