for you, my dearest ael by ethaniel james

1

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:12:05 UTC

i know the weight you carry, the loneliness that lingers even when you’re surrounded by people. i know how it feels to be expected to behave, to leave a good impression, to care for everyone else, while no one stops to ask how you feel. and i know how much it hurts when the one person who should’ve seen you the most, didn’t. when ibun worries about how you treat others but forgets to check if you are okay. it’s not fair, sayang, and you don’t have to pretend that it doesn’t hurt

2

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:13:15 UTC

it must feel exhausting to keep giving, to keep standing, to keep proving that you’re okay when deep down, you’re not. and i know you might have started to wonder, 'what about me?' i see you, sayang. i hear the words you don’t say out loud. you’re not invisible. you’re not alone

3

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:14:30 UTC

i know you’ve spent so much of your life feeling like you have nowhere to go, like you don’t belong anywhere. i know the fear of going home but not knowing where home truly is. but listen to me, home isn’t just a place. it’s not just four walls or a name on an address. home is where you are seen, where you are safe, where your heart can rest without fear

4

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:15:21 UTC

and if you ever feel like you don’t have that place, then let me be that for you. let me be the place where you can always return, where you can breathe, where you are never too much and never not enough. because to me, sayang, you are already more than enough

5

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:16:21 UTC

i know there are days when you feel like you’re still not good enough, when all you see are the things you lack instead of the strength you carry. but sayang, just because you feel like you’re lacking, doesn’t mean you are. you’ve walked through so much, survived things that no one else will ever understand, and yet you’re still here. still standing. still trying. that alone is proof of how much you deserve to be loved

6

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:18:51 UTC

i’m sorry, sayang, that you had to grow up feeling like you had to carry everything alone. that you were forced to be strong when you should’ve been allowed to be held. that no one ever looked at the little child in you who just wanted to feel safe. i’m sorry that the world made you believe you had to earn the love that should have always been yours. but please, let me remind you, you don’t have to prove anything to be loved. you don’t have to be anything other than you

7

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:19:56 UTC

i know it’s still hard. i know there are moments where it feels like no matter how far you go, you’re still alone. i know the fear of being left behind, of never truly being understood. but sayang, not everyone will leave. not everyone will fail to see you. i won’t. i’m here, and i will stay

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etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:21:57 UTC

i’m sorry if for now, i can only be here from a distance. i wish i could hold you in the way you need, be there the way you deserve. but even if it’s from afar, please know this, my presence, my love, my words, they’re real. and they will always be yours

9

etthanieljames — 2025-03-19 03:22:42 UTC

everything will be okay, sayang. as long as i’m in your life, you are safe. if the world feels heavy, if you don’t know where to go, remember that you have me. i will never let you face it alone