Gracie Muehlberger wrote letters to her future self and stored them in a multicolored trinket box on her dresser.

Her notes, penned when she was 13 and signed “Gracie from the past,” bubbled with anticipation about her eighth-grade graduation, her first day of high school and life in college. She also described plans for after she got her license: to drive with music cranked up and her favorite Starbucks drink – a caramel Frappuccino – in the cup holder.

“Dear future self, OMG, it’s high school. I’ve been waiting for this day for forever,” she wrote in one letter. “Don’t be nervous. You will meet some of your life-long friends and also some enemies. Don’t focus on the negativity. … Wear something cute, obviously. I love you!! Good luck.”

But just weeks into Gracie’s freshman year of h

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