Letter to Kyle

This is for my brother.
He is going through a stage that I am all too familiar with. He is on the opposite end of past mistakes, and looking back on them.
He is struggling to forgive himself, despite other people's clear love for him and forgiveness of what he has done. He acted in a way that many boys our age do, and I cannot blame him. We all did, and some still do. It is no big deal in my eyes.
What I wish he understood was that, just because he has made mistakes, he is not a bad person. As mature as he feels, he has little experience in life. Experience comes with making mistakes, and learning from them. Nothing he did were malicious in any way. That is what makes him a good person. Even good people sometimes do malicious things when driven to, but even in this scenario he did not.
Kyle, you are a good boy. When I hear you so upset over things that you have done, things that you wish you hadn't, things that you feel like are coming back to bite you in the butt, I understand how you feel. Its that guilty feeling in the pit of your stomach. Its the yearning for a rewind button. I get it. But we all make mistakes. Among other things, it is one of the driving characteristics of each of us as humans. Even the Lord's own son Jesus was human and made mistakes early in life. It is what we do.
But when you talk about yourself in a way that concerns yourself over good and bad people, all I can think of is how I imagine a parent to think like. I am your brother, not your dad, but hear me out. I picture you as the young boy that I grew up "taking care of", specifically with the pictures I had added below. Those pictures are the epitome of innocence, and though you may be older than some of them, your good nature, your heart, your genuine care for others, some of the best things about you, my brother, still resonates from you today.
I hope you know the importance of forgiveness, but also forgiving yourself. It is something I struggle with myself, but in order to move on in life and learn from our mistakes, we have to accept our regrettable actions as precisely what they are... regrettable. No matter the degree of regret an act may cause you, you are always a good person. You are always the good-natured little brother I know and love. I love you. Love yourself, too.