Dear irresponsible and messy high school student,

I have been with you throughout your high school years, and I must say, you really have not yet learned how to keep anything tidy.  After each summer, you get me back out of the closet, neatly place all of your books inside of me, and I mistakenly think: Maybe this year my human will actually be considerate and not stuff those nasty gym socks inside of me.  But that still hasn’t been the case, as right after the first day, you go back to throwing your junk in me again.  And it’s worse this year, since you’ve been spending even more time with me, carrying me around with you to each class and having a “go to” place for any scraps and litter you have.  I must say, however, there are better qualities to that than being stuck inside the dark, confined room that gets the door slammed on me every hour and having a kid be shoved inside of it with me those few times.  (While we’re on the topic of that skinny metal room you used to shove me in, in all honesty, you really should’ve cleaned that out more often because it smelled like something died in there).  

Okay, I’m sorry, I got off track.  The point of this letter was not meant to smother you with how poorly you’ve treated me through the years (though you very much have).  Rather, I wanted to say that I am getting rather old, and my time seems to have come.  My zippers are torn, threads are coming loose, and one strap is completely off now that you’ve been carrying me on just that side, which by the way, has been extremely uncomfortable these past few weeks being lopsided while you walk. Remember,  I’m not your backpack from three years ago. This isn’t your middle school phase, like seriously, the one shoulder thing isn’t that cool.  Anyway, I wanted to write you this letter to let you know that even though you’ve put me through some rough things, I’m going to miss our good times.  I might complain a lot, but trust me, I am grateful to have you as my owner.  Sometimes I look at what these other backpacks go through and yikes!  Boy, am I lucky.  

I never thought this day would come.  I mean, I knew it would eventually, but I didn’t think it would come so soon.  As the days were passing, I acknowledged that I was getting older and the date of my departure was edging nearer, I just never believed it.  We have been through so much together, and now, the end of the year seems to have come.  I’m going to miss all the field trips we went on together and all of those vacations, too!  While I’m excited for your many opportunities that await you in the near future, it is with great sadness that I say good-bye.  I will always cherish the memories that I have made with you and I thank you for the opportunity that I had to be yours, for that short time.  Though I seem to complain more than not, (and rightfully so), I really am going to miss all of our adventures.  Thanks for everything.

Sincerely, 

Your backpack