Taylor Smith, a 12-year-old girl from Tennessee, died last week of complications from pneumonia.
She had flu-like symptoms in the days leading up to her death, like achy legs and a sore throat, but according to Taylor's father Tim, she tested negative.
"We did the usual flu/cold thing and got her prescription, loaded up on popsicles and soup and brought her back to rest," Tim said.
After Taylor died, her parents began sorting through her things. And that's when they found a letter she had written to her future self.
Tim shared Taylor's letter with BuzzFeed on Thursday.
The letter, which Tim said is addressed to future Taylor, perfectly captures what kind of girl Taylor was. As he put it, she was awesome.
"She was random, she was smart," Tim said. "She was super funny and super fun."
Not to mention nerdy. Past Taylor wanted to make sure Doctor Who was still on the air. And if not at least wanted to know what number regeneration they ended on.
And if it wasn't on TV anymore, she wanted her future self to go watch it right away. After she finished reading the letter, of course.
"She liked doing quirky things and she liked doing meaningful things, she always created stuff," Tim said. "The fact that she wrote this letter wasn't a surprise, but what she wrote was."
Also, attached was a photo her future self could use to explain what a first-generation iPad looked like.
Earlier this week, Taylor's classmates were asked to wear blue in her memory. Her family is also setting up a memorial fund in her name.
