“My Dearest Friend, I write this letter to reveal to you a secret I have had for almost 30 ye…”

My Dearest Friend, I write this letter to reveal to you a secret I have had for almost 30 years. It is a source of my deepest shame. There’s not a day that goes by that I do not think of it and cringe. My hope is that by revealing the secret to you, my dearest friend, I can release myself from some of my shame. I dropped out of undergraduate school and did not tell my family. I had been smoking too much pot and drinking too much. I pretended that I got my degree, but didn’t want to attend the graduation ceremony. I scramble to find work and eventually went back to school for one year to get my degree, pretending to have a full-time job. Then I got a graduate degree in the field that I am now in. I have a full-time job and help take care of my family. I am a responsible citizen in Neighbor. I have never revealed this secret to anyone. Not to my spouse, parents, or anyone else. I have two degrees from different schools than the one I was supposed to have graduated from. To this day, I must maintain the deception. Thank you, dear friend, for reading this and giving me some small comfort. You’re Dear Friend