Six Degrees of Flickr

I play a game with myself when I need a break from work. I call it Six Degrees of Flickr. The premise is simple: I visit the Flickr pages of people I know, visit photos with alot of comments and click through six degrees of separation (sometimes more, sometimes less).

The result is that I see all kinds of amazing photography. Some is saccharine sweet, some is simply breathtaking, and some is just downright weird. Along the way you see funny, interesting, and odd. It's really fun and I'm sure it's not unique to me.

Yesterday, while playing Six Degrees of Flickr, I came across a photo from the Sunday Herald in Australia that contains several "letters to the future." I won't link to it here, since I don't know the person and don't know if they want a bunch of extra traffic to their Flickr page, but believe me when I say, they are adorable. They are projections to 2032.

So, here is my letter to the Future:

Hi Sweetheart:
If you're reading this, then it's 2032 and I cannot- simply cannot- believe you are already 24. Congratulations on all you have achieved. I'm sure you've graduated with honors from college by now (stay in school.) I hope I'm still around and that I can still remember back 25 years ago when your mom first told me she was pregnant. She was so excited! Of course as usual, I was worried for her, but excited for her too. And look at you now... all grown up! (I bet you're tall, even though your parents are a touch on the vertically-challenged side!)

I'm hoping that everything I have planned has come true and that we're still working hard at bringing peace and prosperity to the world. I hope you have lots of cousins by now and that they are doing well (Hello, my sweet babies)- hopefully, the last one starts college this Fall. You can expect they'll be calling you for advice. There are simply some things that your children would rather hear from their older cousin, not their parents.

I hope that we're a close family... I hope you visit me and my family in Africa often - staying many months with us for a break. I hope that you have an easy life and that you are comfortable. I hope that all the hard work your parents have done to be well means that you are happy and secure. I hope that I can be your Auntie Mame- and that the issues of the world are more interesting to you when you visit us.

Most of all, I hope you are a leader. I hope that you and your cousins can help forge a new reality for us all. I hope your legacy is one of peace, one of truth, and one of hope. I hope that the world you inhabit is safe and has shifted it's priorities away from the accumulation of material wealth and that there is less damage, less violence, and less poverty.

Never forget that I love you. Thank you for all the joy you have brought to us.
Yours,
Auntie Kathryn