"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do."

In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, Upper School English teacher Evan Matthews used a tool he knew well - writing - to help his students through the day.

He charged them with the task of writing a letter to themselves - a letter that would be sealed and delivered to them in 10 years. He encouraged them, of course, to write about their feelings in relation to the tragic events. But he also urged them to include the minutia, those trivial facts that seemed unimportant at time - what they were wearing, who they were angry with, what they ate for lunch -  but that in 10 years would give insight into the high school student they had been. He also encouraged them, if they were feeling prophetic, to think about the future and what they might be doing when they received their letters.

Matthews promised to keep the letters private and return each to its writer on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. Students received their letters last week.

On September 9,  the Lakehill community came together to remember a day that many of us will never forget. For those too young to remember, Matthews, Headmaster Roger Perry, and John Hulse, '03, shared their thoughts and recollections during an Upper School assembly. Hulse, a graduate of the University of Texas and a PhD student, even shared excerpts from his letter.