A letter from May 18th, 2020

Dear Future Me, This is not just a letter, but a story about your life as a young one. Speaking of "young", happy 21st birthday! Welcome to the adult life. How is it? I'm sure you're probably excited about the drinking part, but control yourself! I know how crazy you can get. Anyways, how are you? Are you living somewhere else (hopefully), in some other city, or country? How about the trip to the Philippines? I really missed it there; I miss our family and friends back home. But I'm sure you're probably living your best life, right? Well, I hope so. I want you to enjoy your life as much as you can. At least now, you're able to go to your dream cities and fulfill all of your wishes, including mom and dad's wish of you graduating. I didn't really get the chance to have fun when we were kids because we were always so busy with school and trying to accomplish that lifestyle. Apart from that, the memories and moments with our best friends were always the best ones. How are they by the way? Are you still talking to them? Listen, don't let them go, okay? They were the bestest people to enter into your life, so don't ever give them a chance to leave. Trust me, they really made you happy when life was pushing you down. Perhaps, they were the only ones worth going to school for, and we all know how much hell that place gave us. But that was in the past, let's talk more about you. By now, I expect that you're in a relationship. No? It's alright. However, you better treat yourself a lot more now. You have no idea how many people appreciate and adore you. But, once in a while, think about yourself. In this world, a lot of things are gonna come and go to hurt you. And a lot of people will break your heart. Crying is always an option. You don't have to bottle your feelings up to make it seem like you're strong, because at that point, you're the weakest of them all. Remember this, "You're gonna fall in love so many times before you find the one you'll be with forever. So, think of it this way: you're just one broken heart closer to happily ever after." Your 18 years of life is just a free trial, so go have fun; be yourself. And if you fail, you fail. It's alright to fall, baby! Just promise me that you're gonna pick yourself up, like you always do. There's no point in being toxic to yourself. It's not good nor is it healthy. And we both know that it doesn't help us, whatsoever. Love yourself first, then you can start loving others. Don't let this messed up world tell you otherwise. Another point worth noting is that being 21 is gonna be hard. I mean, ****, are you actually 21 right now? It seems to me that just yesterday, you were a 16 year old little girl, sitting on top of the bunk bed, typing this letter to, well, you. I remember in sixth grade where we were both so excited to finally get the hell out of TEC and enter junior high school. The same goes for us, used to be, eighth graders being so enthusiastic and nervous about becoming freshmans. Those were, hands down, the best days of our lives, for sure. And, I guess that's what made me realize that life is short, really short. One minute, I'm playing with my dolls and watching the good old tv shows/movies that made my childhood so pure, and the next, I'm walking down the stage on graduation day and all of my childhood became nothing but forgotten memories. But look at you now, big 21. I'm sure you still have those memories you kept in a package, that we named it our "archives" under mama and papa's desk. You probably moved it to a better place by now, but that was the only thing we had at the time, don't judge! Speaking of mom and dad, do they still bicker with each other? And what about our sisters? Am I an aunt!? Please, tell me you are? If you are, tell them that you're the better aunt, and treat them like your own. I honestly don't know how far I'm gonna go into this, but let's get into 2020; the worst year of your life. You do remember 2020, right? I'm not surprised if you wanted to forget this year existed, even I didn't want this year to exist, yet I lived it, hopefully.. Nevertheless, if you do receive this letter, don't mock me about the stuff YOU wrote. You are me, and I am you. Besides, you still have that eighth grade letter you received back in senior year; that was far worse than this. In terms of the actual letter, I didn't expect myself to be in this position (I got the idea from TikTok ;) Still, I'm thankful that I got to write to you because living in this world is full of surprises, but also filled with many blessings. Sure, life can be hard, but as time goes on and you continue to grow, you find yourself in a normal place, called "reality". A place where everyone lives the same lives with the same flaws, but different character development. And I'm hoping you're a part of that crazy lifestyle. May 17th, 2020, is the day I wrote to you. Thank you for continuing to live out your life. Thank you for not giving up on me, especially on my hardest nights and days. Thank you for not changing who you are for anyone. Thank you for giving me this chance to be who I am. Thank you for all of the memories and moments you have granted me. Thank you for this life you have built for yourself, for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Because of you, I found myself. I love you from the deepest ocean and to the outermost universe.