Hi Lizzie, 

I decided to type this letter because it’s easier, takes less time, and I can tell you a lot more. So, here is the first typed letter of what I hope will be quite a few. 

Firstly, I am so sorry I haven’t been writing like at all recently. You’ve sent me what, like 4 letters and I haven’t responded once. I am super sorry about that. I’ve just been super busy lately. I am taking 3 AP Classes (Spanish, European History, and Biology) and the workload can be intimidating. I’m also not really doing as well as I’d like on the tests and quizzes and such in Euro and Bio, so I need to start studying more. I bought some fat course overview/preparation books to help me do better. I just have to get motivated and start using them. 

Otherwise, classes are really fun and not too challenging. Algebra II is fun, and I haven’t had to really do all that much of anything to keep a good grade in that class. My other two classes are Speech and Debate II and P.E. P.E. is super fun this year – sophomore gym is a total joke. We just play games all day and the units that we do have are still super fun and not difficult (things like roller-skating, volleyball, dance, etc.) Also, I ran 3 miles yesterday in P.E. which is the farthest I have ever run. I didn’t know anybody in that class to start the year off (the class has like 20 people, which is nice) but I’ve made friends with a lot of people in that class and it’s such a blast. I don’t know if you remember me saying this at Luccock, but I tend to have a difficult time meeting new people, so it’s a relief that P.E. has worked out so well. 

I’m also in debate, and I was moved to a varsity event this year. All the people in my event are super close-knit, and we’re just like a family. Life is honestly so great right now because I feel like I have lots of family. I have my real family, church family, youth group family, debate family, etc. 

Besides debate and school, I spend time you know doing whatever. I started Grey’s Anatomy the other day, and I am watching way too much of it. Also, I am addicted to this video game called Star Wars Battlefront II and I play it every night on the weekend. Last night I played from 8pm to 2am. So… ya. There’s that. 

Friends are good: Isaac and I haven’t really been able to hang out so much lately. We’re both really busy. But we always have Youth Group, and that is really the best part of my week. I love it so much. So much. It’s the closest thing I have to Luccock, and it’s like I get to go to Luccock for a few hours every week. Obviously, that makes any bad things much more manageable. 

K, now enough about that. I don’t really know why I told you all of that, like honestly I have no idea, but I did and you read it. Moving on. 

I am so glad to hear that you are doing better. I know how difficult life can be. I really know. And I also know how much life sucks. When you’re a kid, you’re head is just full of dreams, of expectations, of visions of how you want your life to go. From what I’ve found, things never go as you expect. And everyone, literally everyone has to face really fucking difficult times in their lives. People die, depression exists, abuse happens, addiction is ever more prevalent, health and safety is impossible to maintain. Sometimes, on the journey that is life, things will force you to the ground, gnawing at your soul, and no matter how much you struggle, you can’t stand back

up. You would think that it would be easy to just stand up, but it’s not. It’s one of the most difficult things in the world, but guess what. You have done it and so have I. We did it together: you and everyone else at Luccock helped me to my feet, and I hope I was able to do that for you too. 

When I say that life doesn’t go as you’d expect, it’s not necessarily negative. There are times in life that offer such immense joy and make everything so very worth it, and those things are rarely predictable, just like the bad things. 

In regard to the girl I’ve told you about, welp uhh she was kind of asked out be somebody else. And to answer your question, yes I am fine. I think I accepted a long long time ago that I was not going to happen, but I kept trying anyway. Honestly the news of that didn’t affect me as much as I thought. I never cried and I really don’t think about it much anymore. I was chasing her for so long that it was a relief that it was finally over. I don’t really text here as much, in fact I never do. She still texts me, and I answer or whatever, but I keep things short. Now, I am independent once again. And like I said, it’s nice. 

Welp, this is where I say goodbye I guess. I will talk to you later. Write back!

Love, 

Mason

October 13, 2018

P.S. In your next letter, I want you to tell me about school, AP classes, people from camp and how they’re doing, and how you are coping with depression. Love you.