Hey, 1970 Phil!

This is for you Hope.

Dear 1970 Phil,

You are 13 now; enjoy it. You'll only be a baker's dozen once, and soon you are going to be filled with hormone driven angst and bad temper. No worries; it will only last, oh let's see, about 5 freaking years! It'll get better after you meet and start dating. Oh, here's a tip: don't wait until you're half way through 20 before you get over your shyness with girls. And then, don't fall in love right off the bat and get married. That would be a bad plan. Hot tip: when you are 18 you will meet a much younger girl named Marie. Wait for her and marry that one. Couldn't hurt.

You are about to take up running as a personal sport and unknowingly, as a form of emotional therapy. It will be good for you, but be careful, because you will tend to over do it and cause yourself a lot of future serious physical damage. Don't run so far, or so fast, or so often. Always, always, always, buy the best shoes to limit the damage. Otherwise, run like the wind!

You have already made your mind up to join the U.S. Marines. When the drill instructors and later on, other marine comrades start to speak ugly idiocies, just ignore all that derogatory drivel. Don't let it get to you. Maintain the respect your parents taught you to have for women, don't start using the "f word" just because everyone around you uses it, and continue to be the innocent person you are right now. Stay idealistic and true to your religion and its morals. If you can maintain your ethics even as all around you seem to have lost theirs, then the Marines can probably be good for you. On second thought, don't join the Corps, go ahead and serve your country in the Air Force. Dad was right about that all along.

After you marry, and the babies come, cherish them IMMEDIATELY. They are babies for mere split seconds. Before you know it, they are confused teenagers much like yourself, and then, poof, they are gone. Never put yourself ahead of them, not even when you're tired after a long night working on the flight line, or because you think you have something more important to do. Nothing is more important than those babies. You were put here for them, not for you. Don't wait until you are 40 to learn that.

Take care Phil. You do those things and you'll be all right. See you in 37 years.

Regards,

2007 Phil