Katy Paulsen

Dear Sarah Dessen,

Every morning I lay in bed for a few moments before getting up and I think to myself how I can make each day a great one.  I am always trying to be the best I can be.  I find myself to be a pretty calm and happy person.  However, because I am very busy, my frustration catches up with me.  Your book The Truth About Forever  reminded me how everything in life does not have to be perfect.

While following along with Macy in her story, she taught me how to cope with all the little frustrations in my life.  Although, nothing nearly as tragic as the frustration of Macy losing her father has happened to me, I still feel part of her dissatisfaction when something dire interrupts my plans.  Nothing is more frustrating when all is well while going along with your plans, until unexpectedly you are interrupted with something you cannot repair.  Macy’s character helped me realize that there is more to life than trying to make everything just right, when it may get messed up later on.

I have always told myself that it will be okay in the end.  Macy and her friends reminded me whenever something had troubled them, and they handled it calmly.  After reading this book, I have repeatedly thought to myself “because there is a bump in the road does not mean you should go over it; instead you should always try to find a way around it”.

This story really made me think about how nothing succeeds unless it fails first.  When Macy takes her job at the library and realizes working there was not for her, it inspired me by making me believe that it is alright to do thing wrong the first time and learn what you did wrong to make it better.

I am a competitive baton twirler and am always competing for the grand prize.  There are many things you can do to win the judge over to take the winning spot, and also several things that will bring you down.  When I compete, I often think about how this story reminded me that if I do not perform a perfect routine, that it is a lesson to educate myself what went wrong and how to perfect it for the next time.  I frequently think about Macy making her new friends and starting to enjoy herself again, and it gives me that confidence that if there is a bump in the road, I need to avoid it and keep on going to get everything great out of life that I deserve.

A title of every book, movie, speech, or poem, has a different significance to each and every person.  This significance may not even have the same meaning it has for the author.  When I think of the title “The Truth about Forever”, I think about how no one ever really understands what they are doing.  No one knows exactly why we cry when we lose someone or get physically hurt, or why we smile when someone you care about does a nice favor for you.  The only thing we do understand is that as we do not know why things are the way they are we just have to deal with the bad and good things.  It is important to just enjoy being yourself and loving those around you.  This is what I believe is the truth about forever.

Every night I lie in bed and think about the things I might have done wrong that day.  I think about how I could have handled the situations differently, and if it would have improved my day.  I think to myself that I am not the only one frustrated with big or small problems, whether it is a girl or boy my age or simply a fictional character such as Macy, I believe that nothing can bring me down unless I let it.  Reminding myself that there are others that care and love me, and constantly encourage me to try harder, and that it WILL always be okay in the end, I peacefully drift off the sleep.  Thank you Ms. Dessen for reminding me of the idea that you always have to find a way around the tough stuff, and keep moving forward.

Your most faithful fan,

Katy Paulsen