dear 16-year-old me

A dear friend of mine shared this video with me after my last post. It is so very powerful, and I encourage everyone to watch it and share it with others. 

Dear 16-year-old Kaitlin (me),
I understand that being tan is pressed as being the most beautiful option for skin tones, and it is indeed beautiful. But you, sadly, do not have a complexion that will agree with the choice to forcefully make it darker. When you are 23, just two weeks after getting married, you will find out that you have basil cell skin cancer on your face. No, it isn't life threatening, but a surgeon will remove a quarter sized piece of your face just under your nose and you will have a scar from your nose to your lip. You will have a solid year of insecurities before you accept that being white is beautiful. You will also constantly fear that you will get it again and that it will be much worse the next time. So accept your fair complexion now, recognize that God made you beautiful in your own way, and protect it.
Sincerely,
24-year-old Kaitlin