If you had to write a letter today, addressed to ‘you’ at the age of 12, what would you say?

Letter 1 of 4

‘Dear Daniel, you are not going to believe this but’…… Well that’s how you would probably start! But let’s say that a magic fairy had convinced 12 year old 'you', that this letter was really from the future.

Dear Daniel, where do I start? Stop hoping that your parents aren’t yours and that you were adopted. They are! But don’t blame them; they had it fairly tough themselves. Your Dad has been badly damaged by nearly ten years of conflict; he started in the Spanish Civil War at the age of 15, 3 years before the rest of Europe came in. Your Mum is a simple Irish girl who came to London looking for work and maybe should have stayed at home a little longer and married a farmer. You might think they are old, but one day you'll realise that they were just kids themselves when you arrived. You may not like your brother Paul much, but in later life he will be one of your best friends, and as for your brother Andre, well he will be away for many years, 'travelling' we will call it, but you will always keep in touch. Your sister Jacqueline who you love to bits now and have just taught to do forward rolls on the front lawn? Well, I wouldn’t know where to start and you’ll just have to experience that as you go along. And get this, you will discover a half sister that you didn’t even know you had, who is Jewish! In fact, look her up when you are 17 because when you are living rough in London, she will be a nurse and have a spare bed in her flat. You’ll waste 10 years looking for any living relatives that your Dad has. Don’t, because they are all dead! You will get married a few times and think that your Mum’s side of the family will be all ok with it; they won’t, they will never forgive you! There will still be a strong welcome for you by those who love you, but you will no longer be in the 'inner circle'. The person I am with now will be worth the wait and she is lovely but don’t over eat, her cooking is amazing. All those religions you are going to try? Forget it, go straight to Buddhism or become a Wican, it’s the nearest you’ll find to the peace you are looking for. Look at your hand writing, it’s terrible; I’m sorry it will never improve, and your drawing will get even worse. But don’t worry about the spelling, they will invent something called ‘spell check’ and it will make you look almost clever. You have something called ‘Dyspraxia’ which hasn’t been discovered yet, it’s the reason you have stabilizers on your bike at the age of 12, can’t tie your own shoelaces and get lost just about everywhere you go. It’s also the reason that you are not doing well at school and why you even have trouble looking away from the ground to speak to people. It will not be such a problem when you start University at the age of 57 (yes, late start, sorry) because it will get you loads of help then; and you will gain some of the best friends you ever had. Start pretending to your friends that you really stopped believing in Father Christmas when you were 6. They all did, and they are laughing at you behind your back; it's not just because you still wear short trousers to school!

I will write again tomorrow when your head has stopped spinning. Don’t worry, it will work out.