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song for you: Sparks by Coldplay

To my Maria,

Happy birthday, and welcome to the club where adulthood starts. Yes, you’re an adult now! I know it might seem overwhelming, but don’t worry! Everything will be alright, and you’ll figure it out as you progress into becoming an adult with full of dreams.

Adulthood is something that will shape you into not just a person but a responsible one. As you venture onto different paths in life, you’ll realise that adulting is something that’s hard and has never been an easy stepping stone to being in. But this is the reminder that we are growing, progressing, and moving in life. This is just the start of your new chapter in your life, so heads up as you take on the next pages for the rest of your life. Always remember to take baby steps in every decision you will make; don’t rush into making decisions because one click might be a failure.

Baby, I will always be your reminder that life may be full of uncertainties, but one certainty I know is that you can always count on me in all ways. Just think about how blessed you are as you turn 18 and take into this new chapter in your life. I always got your back, baby! Again, happy birthday! I love you always. <3

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song for you: Photograph by Ed Sheeran

To my Maria,

Happy Birthday, my baby! Finally, you’re adult now. I pray that in your 18 years of existence may you find the sole purpose in life. Enjoy every moment because that will only happen once in your life. Be kinder to yourself this time.

To my Maria, happy 18th birthday! These past few years might not be your best years to celebrate your day, but I make sure that this year will be the best among all. I and your loved ones here in the Philippines might not be able to greet and celebrate with you physically, but always remember that we sent you our warmest greetings. My maria, I'm thinking of you and how much I appreciate and value our relationship. This message feels like little windows into your world, and I love getting glimpses of your day. It's more than just words; it's a feeling of closeness that warms my heart. Your laughter, even through text or call, brightens my day. I value our conversations, the easy flow of our back-and-forth chikas, random away, and your tampohan sessions. It feels genuine and real; that, to me, is something special. I find myself smiling whenever my phone lights up with your name, and thank you for making me like this.

As you turned 18, may you never forget all the lessons you have learned from the past. Keep your heads up as this new chapter in your life opens. Always remember that you have your Melo, who will always be there for you. To more birthdays to come, more memories to make, laughters, and blessings may come your way, baby. I love you so much!

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song for you: I’ll Be by Edwin McCain

To my Maria,

Why are you sad today, my baby? Hey, I’m here, okay? Tight hug for youuuuuu, always remember that it’s okay to feel that way, and that’s valid.

Being vulnerable doesn’t mean you’re weak; rather, it makes you become more human — you can feel the pain. So, if you’re crying because you’re sad or something bad happens, always remember that it’s not permanent. You can overcome that phase in your life; all you need to do is to meet what you need and express your needs. I’m here, okay? I've always been your constant comforter in this cruel world. Come and share that sadness in you with me; we can be sad together, baby. We got this. We will be back on our track again; just please don’t lose hope no matter what. That will not make you less human; it’s just a sad day and not a bad life. You’ll realise later on that being sad is only a temporary feeling that will hit you. All you need to do is chat or call me so that I can help; no need to keep that to yourself. I’m here, always your companion, ally, and listener. Everything will be alright in time, okay? Don’t be sad, and drink water if ever you cried.

You are not weak for being like that; that’s your emotion, so express that. Don’t worry, I will not judge you; rather, I will help you, my baby. I love you so much. <3

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song for you: Seasons by W2E

To my Maria,

Hey, i’m glad you’re happy today, baby! Just so you know that better days are coming, okay? So, in every step you take, always remember that there’s always room for happiness. I am rooting for your good days, baby.

Feel free to tell me why you’re happy today. Yap that to me, okay? I will attentively listen. I will be the happiest girl if I know my baby is happy. I am forever happy with whatever great things that will happen in your life. So please be happy always, okay? There are a lot of reasons to be happy — by eating your favourite food, talking to your favourite person, bed rotting, and spending time alone or with your loved ones. I hope that in every moment you make, you can always look back on that and savour not just the bits of it but the whole moment you have. Nevertheless, those happy moments in your life may have a special place in your heart. Treasure and keep them for the rest of your life, okay?

Every small moment has a big impact on your soul. It resonates to your soul down to your whole being; it’s like regaining the positive energy, reconnecting with the people, and creating connections to their soul. That’s why, if you’re happy, treasure that moment because you don’t know what will come next. I am happy that you’re happy, baby! I love you always. <3

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song for you: Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

To my Maria,

Hey, why are you doubting yourself, hmm? You know what? Doubting oneself can lose confidence. So, stop that, okay? You’re capable of more than what you know, my baby. You're worth more than a penny.

I see no wrong within you; you are enough, more than you know. Stop doubting yourself because that will stop you from doing what you want. You can do it without thinking of your own strength and ability. If you feel like you are not enough, well, for me you are enough, okay? I’m here; share that with me. I saw your own worth not just from the outside but also from the inside. That’s just a phase; it will pass, so please know that you’ve always been enough for me. I see you from here; you can do it without thinking about not being satisfied with what you’re doing. Don’t listen to your mind, my baby; listen to your heart and connect them so that you can realise that you are enough and that you’ll stop doubting yourself.

I believe that everyone of us has doubts, and that’s valid. At times, we come to a point where we compare ourselves, which is unhealthy. I hope that we will end that stigma and try to focus on our own pace without the feeling of doubt. Did you get it, baby? I love you so much. <3

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song for you: Ikaw Lang Patutunguhan by Amiel Sol

To my Maria,

My baby, you deserve a hug from me. No matter what you feel today, always remember that my arms are always open, even though it’s virtual. Always tell me about what you feel, okay?

Hey, I've been thinking about you. Things have been tough lately, haven't they? I just wanted to let you know I'm here for you. You deserve a big hug. I may not be able to hug you right now, but always remember that my prayers will do. Don’t worry because when we meet, I will wrap you all over my arms. Don’t be so hard on yourself, my baby. If you’re feeling down right now, then just be in it. Sit with sadness, endure the pain, and seize the moment. After that, you will finally come to think that it’s not permanent. You can be sad, but it will not stay for a longer time. Baby, there’s no room for sadness, okay? Count on me when your life is falling apart. Sending you my tight hugs right now.

Seriously, a really big, warm hug to you, my baby. Life can be hard sometimes. It's okay to not be okay. Lean on me if you need to. Sending you lots of love and virtual hugs. Remember you're not alone; I’m here always. I love you so much, my baby.

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song for you: Twinkle twinkle little star

To my Maria,

Is there something on your mind that keeps bothering you? Feel free to reach out to me, my baby. If ever you’re worried or you overthink, just tell me so that we can talk about that. I’m here, ready to listen to whatever you say.

Sleeping late is bad, my baby; if you’re bothered about something, do tell me, please. We can talk about that, okay? I’m here; you don’t need to keep that to yourself. I know that it’s hard to sleep if you’re thinking about something, so please let that out. I won’t judge you, my baby; we will talk about that. Message me, please. I don’t want you to be alone thinking about something. We can be lonely together, baby. If you want something, then I am here. Like, seriously speaking, you can talk about whatever is on your mind right now. Let’s talk about that and then sleep. It’s bad for your mental health, my baby. I actually want to hug you right now until ’we can sleep. I miss you so much, my baby.

My baby, if you have problems that’s why you can’t sleep, then let’s talk about that. That’s our problem, okay? You don’t need to deal with that all alone. Did you get me, my baby? I love you so much. 🤍

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song for you: Look After You by The Fray

To my Maria,

Check on yourself, please. Drink water for me, my baby. Eat your meals, okay? I know you’re not feeling well right now. I told you to take good care of yourself. But don’t worry, you’ll be fine soon. Get well soon.

Hey, my baby, I was so sorry to hear you're sick! Being so far away makes it tough, but I wanted to reach out and let you know I'm thinking of you yet worried about your situation. I hope you're able to rest and get plenty of fluids (drink water, baby). Is there anything I can do from afar? Don't push yourself—getting better is the most important thing. Sending you lots of love and positive energy. I hope you feel better soon, my baby! Let me know if you need anything at all. Wishing you a speedy recovery. I told you so many times to take good care of yourself, hmp. Please drink your medicine and drink lots of water; don’t be so hardheaded this time.

Stop using your phone and get plenty of rest because you need that. I hope you feel better soon. I’m really worried, huhu. Get well soon, my baby; I love you so much! 🤍

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song for you: Jealous by Nick Jonas

To my Maria,

Hi, my baby, why are you jealous? hmmm. Tell me who that person is, please, so that I can cut him/her off. I don’t want you to overthink it. Communicate what you feel right now, and don’t hesitate to clarify it. I am willing to answer all your questions.

I told you, baby, that if ever you feel jealous, tell me right away because I don’t want our relationship to be affected. Besides, I don’t want you to overthink who that person in my life is and what his/her intentions are towards me. We can talk about that in the most respectful manner, my baby. I don’t want to lose you just because of jealousy. What can I do for now? Tell me, please. We need to fix it before we go to sleep. To assure you, I only want you, baby, so please tell me what you feel and what I need to do. I only want you, only you, my baby.

I love you, okay? If that person bothers you, then I'm really sorry, my baby, if you feel that way. Just tell me what you want me to do with that person so that I can take action right away. I love you so much. 🤍

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song for you: Perfect by Ed Sheeran

To my Maria,

I miss you more, my baby. I want to hug you so bad right now, but sadly I cannot. I’m sending you my warmest hugs right now. I love you, and I miss you, my baby, huhu.

I know that you miss me, and that's okay. Someday we can wake up next to each other like in person, not on call. Only if I can teleport for a second and hug you will I do it. Anyway, I miss you more, my baby. I miss spending time with you and drinking matcha together. Just watch our videos and pictures together to somewhat ease the sickness of missing me hahaha. Kidding aside, I hope you’re not crying right now, hmp. That’s bad for your heart. We’ll meet soon, okay? Be patient; in God's perfect timing, He will make things work for us. I can’t wait to see you again.

Again, I miss you, my baby, huhu. Sending you my hugs and kisses right now. I will surely hug you tight when we meet again, my baby. I miss you so much, and I love you. 🤍

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song for you: Sa Bawat Sandali by Amiel Sol

To my Maria,

I know you’re overthinking right now, and that’s okay. No matter what’s in your mind right now, communicate that to me because I’m willing to listen anytime. Share that with me, baby, so that it will be less heavy on your part.

Being together since day 1 and having all those arguments together is something I look up to. There may be times that I overthink, but I figure it out on my own and look for its solution. I know that you need someone who will listen and be on your side in times of your needs. And with that, I am here, okay? I will listen to whatever is on your mind right now. Let that out, my baby; I will let you understand it. I will try to understand you and let you know that overthinking will really kill you. So baby, if you’re overthinking right now, feel free to share that with me, please.

In times of need, I am 24/7 open to cater to you. My ears are open and willing to listen. Don’t be shy, okay? What you feel right now is valid. I love you so much, my baby! 🤍

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song for you: Just the way you are by Bruno Mars

To my Maria,

Always remember that you’re pretty inside and out, okay? Don’t be so insecure about yourself because that’s bad. You’re always beautiful, even when you don’t feel like yourself.

Love your flaws, my baby! This is a gentle reminder that every one of us is pretty from both the inside and outside. Just look at yourself in the mirror and observe every angle of your face—you’re unique and beautiful. The opinion of other people won’t define your own uniqueness. Learn to accept and love yourself in a way that you get to appreciate everything about you. I mean, every one of us feels like we are not enough or physically attractive to everyone’s eyes, but just so you know, they aren’t your cup of tea, so please dgaf about them. They are the real insecure because they can’t learn to accept themselves, so they put hate on other people’s insecurities. You are beautiful in every way.

Learn to appreciate yourself so that you get to see the real beauty in you. Disregard other people's opinions and accept the way you look—you as a whole being. You are not who you are without your flaws. Appreciate, love, and accept them without judging your whole being. I love you so much my baby! 🤍

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song for you: Courage by Ben and Ben

To my Maria,

Whatever you’re worried about right now, my baby, you will always have a solution for that. That’s not permanent, okay? That will pass. Talk to God and ask for His guidance and enlightenment.

Being worried is inevitable because we are humans—we have emotions. If you’re worried about what will happen tomorrow, then don’t think about it because whatever will happen will happen. We are allowed to worry about something, but it’s not good to just sit there and think about the negativity of being worried. Learn to figure it out on your own; communicate with yourself. You can always tell me, my baby, what you’re worried about. You can’t find a solution to your problems if you just think about it repeatedly to the point that you don’t understand it. Baby steps, okay? You will surely find an answer to whatever you’re worried about. I'm always here, my baby.

Let me know what you’re worried about because I will let you understand it. We’ll try to figure it out together, my baby. Leave that to me, and I will do the rest. I love you so much! 🤍

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song for you: 123 by Over October

To my Maria,

I know that you’re bored right now, but just so you know, I am here. Hit me up so that we can have our chit-chats. I am willing to listen to you, baby.

As long as you’re not bored in our relationship, then it’s fine. Let’s talk, okay? Let’s do whatever you want. You want to play Roblox? Watch movies? Anything! We’ll get bored together, my baby. Yap to me whatever is in your mind. I really don’t know how to ease your boredom, but one thing I know is that we just play Roblox. Other than that, you may read my messages for you. The ones I printed out, I hope those messages help you.

Baby, you can always say whatever you feel, okay? We will talk and talk so that we keep that communication. I know we’re miles away, but that doesn’t mean it will separate us. I love you so much, my baby! 🤍

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song for you: You’ll be in my heart by Niki

To my Maria,

I know you feel lonely right now, but I do hope you’re still motivated to keep yourself up. Being alone means you have to reconnect with yourself. Find peace within the loneliness you feel at the moment because we need that sometimes.

Being lonely doesn’t mean you’re alone; it means you have time and space for yourself. Each of us needs that—to have our own lonely time. There are a lot of things to be done when you’re lonely. You can do meditation, walking, journaling, baking, and many more. Moving will keep you productive even if it means nothing. Baby, if you really feel that loneliness, call or text me, okay? We may be miles away, but I know we have that strong communication.

Free yourself from being lonely, okay? Do what makes you happy and enjoy it. Seize the moment of being lonely because, as I've said, you need that—everybody needs that. I love you so much, baby! 🤍

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song for you: Fix You by Coldplay

To my Maria,

Feeling unmotivated again? Well, that’s okay, my baby! That's part of the process, and you need to feel that at times. Let’s talk about that, okay? Your feelings are valid.

Baby, I told you so many times that being unmotivated is part of our life. Maybe you're too tired to do your schoolwork or just simply too tired to keep going in life. Feeling unmotivated at times can help us to find and know more about ourselves—our weaknesses and strengths. We often saw the best version of ourselves but never saw the worst. Read the Bible verse I told you, Philippians 4:13. That’s a reminder that no matter how unmotivated you are, God is always with you. He will never leave you. He listens and answers your prayer. Remember that you sit on an answered prayer right now, and just by feeling unmotivated, you can’t hinder yourself from doing things that make you happy. Keep going in life, okay? We still have a lot of plans and dreams in the future, my baby. I hope you find strength to keep on the track once more. Hey, I'm here. I know these words aren’t enough to cheer you up, but I hope my prayers did. Baby, don’t hesitate to ask God. Pray and pray, because everything will be fine. Acknowledge what you feel right now so that it'll lessen the heaviness of your heart. You have me, my baby. I will listen.

Let’s go back on our track, okay? Keep fighting even if it means that you’re about to give up. Again, it’s not living if you don’t feel anything. Make your weaknesses your strength to keep going, my baby. I love you so much, baby! 🤍

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song for you: Shut up and Dance by Walk the Moon

To my Maria,

Hey, that’s okay if your day is bad. That doesn’t mean that it is completely a bad day, okay? It needs not to be perfect though, as long as you survived today. Im proud of you for surviving, my baby!

Having a bad day, it not completely bad. Romanticised that because without having a bad day, you can’t have your happy day. You know, our life is full of twists and turns. We don’t know what will happen next. They said, Life is unpredictable, and that’s true. Because even though you thought that your day would go as planned, it's inevitable that it will change as you go through your day. That’s okay, my baby, okay? You don’t need to feel like it was your worst day; the thing here is that even in the smallest part of your day, you still had the chance to enjoy it. That’s a phase, not a permanent thing. Let’s hope for your better days, my baby. I know for sure that your better days are coming, and I hope you enjoy every one of them. Continue praying and hoping that your days will be better. Rooting for you, my baby.

You survived despite having a rough day. Indeed, I'm proud of you for making it through your day. Give yourself credit for making it, my baby. I love you so much, baby! 🤍

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read me when you want to hear my favourite memory of us

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read me when you want to hear my favourite memory of us

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song for you: Love Someone by Lukas Graham

To my Maria,

Do you still remember the time when you didn’t reply to my messages way back in year 10? Yes, that’s my favourite memory of us. Why? Because that’s the time that I was so mad at you. I mean, it’s valid, though, since I really needed your answer at that moment. Well, that’s our first interaction.

I was so shy to approach you before just because of what you did to me. I know you’re busy, hahahaha. But, from that moment, I never had the courage to have any interaction with you by any chance. I'm scared of rejection, hell yeah, rejection. I hate it when someone I want to be friends with just rejects and ignores me. Well, you’re not like that in the first place. But I make that message of mine my favourite memory of us. I never thought that just by simply messaging you, you would become part of my life. I never expected us because I felt like from the start that the universe was against us. Moreover, ever since I got to know you as who you really are, I admire you. You have the purest soul in this world, my baby. You’re so selfless, kind, and considerate. Continue being like that, my baby. Just so you know, I have so many favourite memories of us, but this one is my favourite.

As this was the end of my letter, I hope you know that you are my favourite person. Happy birthday, my love. I wish that 18 will treat you well. Im here always, okay? There’s no turning back; we are the end game of our own story. Happy birthday. I love you always in all ways, my love! 🤍