Dear Grandchild,

Happy 16th birthday!  I know you do not know me but I would like to describe to you what I looked like when I was your age. Hopefully this will help you get to know me and how I can know you as well. When I was your age I was a girl that had soft long brown hair and was pretty short.  I am of average weight for my height. I am shy around guys  but once you get to know me would never think that is was.

I lived with my parents out in the country in the Town of White River.  The house was on the end of a dead end road so it was real quite most of the time.  The only bad thing was that it was about 10 miles from town so I did not get to go very often.  I did get a car when I was 17 but that also meant that I have to get a job to buy gas and insurance.  So I worked at Zifkos Automotive and washed dishes at the Avelon restaurant in Benoit.
I like to wear name brand clothes like American Eagle, Hollister, Pink, and Aeropostale. I have blueish-green eyes and wear lots of makeup. Some people give me a hard time about how I use makeup but that’s their problem. I can be rude and mean at times.  Therefore people tend not to like me if they catch me in a bad mood.

I love spending time at my Grandparent’s farm.  I spent every summer there and enjoyed doing all kinds of stuff.  While I was there I was able to make hay and drive the tractors. I loved all the animals on the farm and really enjoyed to see the new calves born. I was able to drive 4 wheelers, snowmobiles, and the lawnmower.  My grandparent’s took me on camping trips and we even went to Alaska!  I also enjoy hunting and fishing.
I love spending time with my family and friends as well as meeting new people. I enjoy going to bonfires and parties on the weekend. I hope you have a chance to  do a lot of stuff when you are growing up.  

When I was your age I wanted to become a prison guard and live in the country.  I have several relatives that are guards and even a police officer in a big city.  They all say that they like the work and make good money.  They also said it takes a lot of study and a good work history.  I am planning on completing the CNA class at the vocational school in Ashland.  I want to be successful when I grow up. Right now I want make the B honor roll since that will help me get a better price on my car insurance.

I want to save $5000.00 by the time a graduate high school.  I know I will need to work hard to get all the things I would like to get.  I hope to get a small farm and raise some cattle like my grandfather did.  My plan would be to get a Chevy Duramax pickup truck to use to haul hay and cattle.  They cost $50,000.00 now I would hate to see what it would cost you all these years later. I know I need to be less lazy but sometimes there just seems to be just too much to do.  I also need to eliminate people how use me, lie, and put me down.  It’s like my grandmother told me, “you have to be careful of the company that you keep” .  Some of the people I have known have been more trouble that they were worth.

Times are always changing and I am sure yours will be no different. The world I grew up in can be good and bad.  It is good because we have a good amount of freedom to choose our destiny.  The bad part is that you have to listen to your parents until you are 18.  And there are always laws that you must follow.  Most laws protect you from harm but some seem to hold you back.

Donald Trump was the president when I was your age.  So far he has done some good things but he has not gotten his way all of the time.  I guess that is what everyone must deal with, just because you think its right, others will disagree.

It seems like there is never enough money to go around.  I am sure you will see this as you grow up as well.  Everything requires money; you need food and shelter as well as everything else that goes for living here.  It is very easy to fall into debt if you are not careful. The winters are cold the summers are hot so you have heating bills and electric bills to keep your home comfortable.

But when I was your age the most disturbing thing was the fact that there was a lot of hatred in the world.  Instead of loving one another there is more hate.  Parents do not spank their kids as much as the used to but there are bigger problems.  People seem to routinely killing each other for fun or because of religious differences.  It seems odd to me that people will kill over what religion they follow and that allows them to kill someone else.  I hope that is not the case when you read this.  But when I was growing up I always watched my back, I hope you do the same.

Some people say there will be a world war 3; I hope they are wrong since most of the people that get killed in a war are the young.  As the world gets more and more crowded the problems will continue to grow.  But war is the least effect way of solving problems.  Huge amounts of money and lots of young lives for no reason.  Hopefully you will never have to make that decision.

To make it in this world you need to work hard and save your money.  When I was your age if you wanted to retire you had to cover a lot of your expenses. The government is always in debt and cutting costs wherever they can.  Avoid all of the problems you can since there will always be ones out of your control.  Hopefully by the time you read this that our big debt that the country is carrying now is under control.  

If I could give you some advice that would help you in the future would be the following.  Work hard and get a good paying job!!  Everything you do costs a lot of money; rent, food, cars, clothing, gas, health care.  Plus if you ever what to retire you will need even more money saved over time.   I am not trying to scare you but unless you can make a good wage it will always be a struggle to makes ends meet.  How can you take a vacation if you do not have enough money to buy food?

You should always trust your inner self when dealing with anybody new in your life.  Some people will want to use you and make it look like they are your friend but they are not.  If someone asks you to do stuff that makes you worry do not do it.  When meeting a new person in an unfamiliar spot always bring on of your friend along to make sure you are safe and they will not hurt you.  Follow the laws so you do not get in trouble.  A police record could haunt you for the rest of your life as well as cost you lots of money in fines.

Also you may want to move out of your parents when you turn 18 years old.  This may not always a good ideal.  It may be hard to have to listen to your parents and follow their rules to stay in their house.  But unless you can pay for everything else that you need you could end up homeless on some strange town.

The main thing you can do to help yourself in the future is to study hard and stay in school.  But you should always watch other people and learn from them.  I learned so much from my grandfather when I was growing up.  He taught me how to drive tractors and take care of cattle.  Watch your parents and you can learn how to cook and take care of yourself.  How can you live out in the world if you cannot even do your laundry?  So I hope you are smart and do well as you grow up.