Dear Future Eliot,
I write this now in the midst of incredible global uneasiness, and uncertainty. With a pandemic altering our lives now and for the foreseeable future, with the Black Lives Matter protests fighting against the oppressive power of our nation and law enforcement, having moved from the home I grew up in 600 miles south to Greensboro, North Carolina, absolutely nothing feels “right” at this very moment. In times like this I find myself looking towards the future for answers. What will come of all this? What will come of me? I wonder if a major in political science better suites my interests. I wonder if I’ll have a more clear idea of a career path that feels like my calling. I trust in you later, and myself now, to continue staying the course. I can feel tremendous growth taking place already through one year at Longwood. You may be reading this with a heavy heart as baseball, the one thing we can say we certainly have been passionate about our whole life, may be coming to a close. If you are lucky enough to play professionally then pat yourself on the back, from former you to current you, because that means the hard work ahead of me right now payed some serious dividends in our future. However if not, and the cleats are about ready to be hung up, I know that you will have another passion that you approach with the same hunger and desire we do with baseball. I just hope we never stop improving ourselves. The work we put in for academics and sports will translate later in life with the same drive to make a positive change, just maybe this time in the world, not just on the field and in the classroom. You and I both know how lucky we are to have such a supportive family that has provided us with the tools we need to prosper anywhere in life. Tell Mom, Dad, and Natalie, Hello, and I love you, from Freshman year Eliot.
Hopefully by the time you read this, social change will come that improves the lives of systemically oppressed black Americans, the corona virus vaccine is readily available and successfully distributed each year, and the Mets have won another world series. I trust in myself now to become an evolved version of myself that I’m proud of when you read this, don’t let me down!
Sincerely,
Eli0t
6/1/2020
P.S. Keep taking photos. You know it’s cathartic, and don’t say you don’t have time. You do.