If I could write a love song to myself,
My younger self,
Because it’s the most important relationship I’ll ever have,
I’d say

Dear Gracie,
I know you are in love with love,
But stay true to who you are.
Your heart is strong, gold, pure.
Don't let young boys break it.
The one meant for you is a long walk
down California’s golden coast,
But, beautiful girl,
He’s waiting for you patiently.
I don’t know what he is like,
I have not met him yet,
But, dearest Gracie,
I know he will make you laugh, and
He will hold you when you cry, and
He will name the shapes in the sky, and
He will pick you up when you fall down, and
He will make you feel like you can fly.

Dear Gracie,
Do not give up hope.
Darling, I know you are in love with love
So, love
Yourself.

If I could write a love song to my younger self,
I’d say,
Dear Gracie,
When you are sad,
Keep writing letters to your friends
To let them know you will always
Be there for them.
Oh Gracie,
When you cry
Keep writing poems
Because they give you life,
In the early hours of the morning after.
Oh Gracie,
When you are happy,
Grab all your friends
And run around in the sun.
Oh Gracie,
It is okay that you feel intensely,
It means that you love so deeply.
Oh Gracie,
It is okay if you do not want to look
At yourself in the mirror,
Know that you are surrounded by people
Who love your figure.
Oh Gracie,
In the shower
Sing at the top of your lungs
And it is okay if you don’t stop
To smell the flowers.
Oh Gracie,
Take all the pictures because someday
You will miss the way your friends
Smiled, and the way
that dinner tasted.

If I could write a love song to my younger self,
I’d say
Dear Gracie,
Keep writing your big dreams
On post-it notes,
And putting them up in your window.
Look in the mirror.
Smile, you are beautiful, darling,
I know you do not always feel it.
But you are.
Oh honey,
To me you always are.


Oh Gracie,
Be nice to your sister
Because someday
You will miss the way
She is so much funnier than you.
Oh Gracie,
My dearest, my darling, Gracie,
Be yourself because someday,
You will miss you too.

I I could write a love song to my younger self,
I’d say
Dear Gracie,
Please be yourself
Because no one else is like you.
Oh Gracie,
Please be yourself
Because I love you.
Oh Gracie,
Please be yourself
Because someday
(Hopefully before your blond hair turns white with speckles of grey,)
you will love yourself too.

If I could write a love song to my younger self,
I’d say,
Dear Gracie,
I love you.
You are right where you need to be.