“With dearest love”

mommyeverafter — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:49:27 +0000

I was about to turn in for the night, when I heard the computer buzz, signaling that an email had come through.
I was not going to check it.
I am so glad I did.
It was from my sister.
In the subject line, she told me to read this to her niece.
The body of the email was this:
In 1933, F. Scott Fitzgerald ended a letter to his 11-year-old daughter, Scottie, with the following:
Things to worry about:
Worry about courage
Worry about cleanliness
Worry about efficiency
Worry about horsemanship
Things not to worry about:
Don’t worry about popular opinion
Don’t worry about dolls
Don’t worry about the past
Don’t worry about the future
Don’t worry about growing up
Don’t worry about anybody getting ahead of you
Don’t worry about triumph
Don’t worry about failure unless it comes through your own fault
Don’t worry about mosquitoes
Don’t worry about flies
Don’t worry about insects in general
Don’t worry about parents
Don’t worry about boys
Don’t worry about disappointments
Don’t worry about pleasures
Don’t worry about satisfactions
Things to think about:
What am I really aiming at?
How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:
(a) Scholarship
(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them?
(c) Am I trying to make my body a useful instrument or am I neglecting it?
With dearest love,
Daddy
(Source: F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters / Lists of Note )
Thank you, computer, for enticing me to check my email.
Thank you, Scott, (can I call you Scott?), for never ceasing to move me.
Thank you, sister, for being you.

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“With dearest love”