To my 80-year-old self:
Hi,
I want to talk about what I’m doing here.
You’re nearly twice my age. I chose 80 because it’s a nice round number and it’s way beyond anything I can comprehend right now.
I imagine you reading this at 80, not understanding that I can’t comprehend who you are. It’s because I’m naive. Or, maybe, because there are so many possibilities.
I look back at that 20-year-old version of myself, and I realize that kid has no idea what’s in store for him. The things that are coming are fascinating. All the travel and friendships. The careers that have taken him all over the globe. He hasn’t jumped out of that airplane!
The difference this time is that I’m more mature. That kid didn’t know that he didn’t know. Now, I do. I know I don’t know what’s coming. I show up and do my best every day. The difference is that I think I can influence it a little bit.
Not in big ways, but a little bit.
Like, I’m in a restaurant in Australia, and kangaroo is on the menu. Should I order it?
Of course, I should order it. What a story to tell! I’ll be telling people for the rest of my life that I tried kangaroo.
Here’s the crazy thing. I took our son and his mom to the zoo today. It’s Mother’s Day. Guess who I didn’t expect to see in Seattle? Somebody’s cousin who showed up on a plate three years ago and 7700 miles away.
That’s another experience I didn’t know I could have when I chose what to have for dinner in a foreign country.
I want to be your friend.
I want to carry you around in my heart, like I do all the people I love.
I want to get to know you. What you like and don’t like. How little or big a decision really is on a 40-year time horizon.
But there are huge implications in tiny decisions. Should I say yes or no to an invitation? I know you’re going to want me to say yes way more than I do.
So, that’s what I’m doing here.
I’m writing to you as a friend with the hope that we’ll get to know each other.
Talk soon,
Craig
10 May 2026
