A Christmas Letter (Diary Entry, Christmas, 2050)

Well, I stopped by your grave again today. I got the worst sunburn imaginable, and I sweated through my new t-shirt.

Thanks, ma.

No, in all seriousness, you were right about the weather, "not knowing the seasons before the Lord comes back." All that jazz. My first case of frostbite came this past July, and I'm just searching the sky for Jesus at this point. Hope to see you soon.

I'd like to write you and say that I found a girl, that we got married, that I didn't spend this Christmas alone, sleeping half of it, getting ready for my shift at the grocery store at 9 tonight. I'd like to say that I decided to ask out Chelsea, like you'd wanted me to, and that I'm with a woman in the faith, but I'm with no one. Occasionally, Linda, from work, will keep me warm, every week or so.

I heard Jordan had her third kid, and I'd like to say I'm happy for her. God knows, someone deserves that kind of joy. You just never would've thought, back when I met her in 2016, that she would even have kids. It's even stranger to have them when you're in your fifties, but I guess we all look about the same, seeing how medicine's gone. We're all in debt, but at least we'll live forever to pay it off, right? That's how Michael said it last week.

And brother called last week, he's enjoying his Playstation Room. To think, we thought the Playstation 4 had great graphics, but when you have an entire room, and mind you a large one, and then the graphics are that good. Ugh. That's the kind of stuff I dreamed about as a kid.

No, I never bought into the iChip. You would've called it the "Mark of the Beast," and seeing how rude people have gotten, how short they are with you in public, the controversial swelling, I'm starting to believe you. Grocery store clerks get pissed at you when you hand them cash though; money's still good, but it's almost like trying to pay off student loans with gold. It just doesn't make sense.

No, I still don't carry a gun, and I don't plan to. Yeah, I know, there's a mass shooting every week now, and the population is literally depleting faster than it's replenishing, but that's neither here nor there. We all have extra food and drink and the roads are clear. And at this point, I wouldn't mind being at the end of a gun.

I forgot how to sing, ma. Kinda sucks, being stuck with two degrees, one of them being music, and you can't even open your mouth to sing. If I'm honest, I spend so many nights not talking to people that it takes me a while to get my voice back enough to pray.

I bought myself a pair of binoculars for Christmas, so I can see my life spiral down the drain. Ha.

At least you're not here to tell me that I have a good life, and that I have no reason to be depressed. At least I don't worry anyone anymore.

Merry Christmas, mom. I still love you.

~

Thank you for reading my submission! I hope you liked it.