an introduction
Meet Busra Fettahoglu
Creator of Dear Me: Then & Now
Hi — I'm Busra. I built this project because I believe our community has stories worth holding onto: the quiet lessons, the hard seasons, the small joys, and the versions of ourselves we don't want to forget.
Dear Me: Then & Now is more than a website. It's a gathering place for honest letters — emotional, reflective, and deeply human — where people of every age can write to who they were, who they are, or who they hope to become.
Why I'm doing this
I want this project to have a real impact on my community. When we share our letters — even anonymously — we learn from one another. We see that we're not alone. We remember what mattered, and we grow together.
My hope is that these voices become something lasting: a shared archive of wisdom, tenderness, and truth from ordinary lives.
The mission
The heart of this project is community. Every letter submitted here is read with care. Selected letters may be considered for publication in a book — Dear Me: Then & Now — so these reflections can reach even more people beyond this site.
That book is the long-term goal: to preserve our community's voices in print, and to create something beautiful, emotional, and meaningful that we can all be proud of.
Dear Me: Then & Now is a place to pause, reflect, and remember. Whether you are sixteen or sixty, a student or a grandparent, this archive is open to you. Write a letter to your future self — or to the younger version of you who needed to hear something kind.
Why this project exists
Because every life carries small truths worth keeping. Because the person we are right now — at any age — is worth remembering. Years from now, we'll want proof of who we were before everything changed: the late nights, the small joys, the quiet fears, the people who felt like home.
Who this is for
Anyone. Teenagers writing to the adult they hope to become. Parents writing to the child they once were. Friends, partners, strangers — men, women, and everyone in between. There is no right age, no right voice, no right kind of letter.
A growing memory archive
Every letter becomes part of a slowly growing time capsule — a shared archive of honest moments. Open it again in a year, in ten, in thirty, and meet the person you were when you wrote it.
A gentle reminder
Please write kindly. This is a safe and respectful space. Letters should be meaningful, never hurtful — toward yourself or anyone else.