At My Twenty-Eight

Dear self, "How are you? Are you good? What's up? Everything will be alright! Don't give up, keep on fighting, you can do it. I WALK to the mirror inside my room, I look at the full grown woman in front of me, years have been changing her, from naive to strong independent one, life must be hard for her but she passes all those years of sadness and disappointment, life struggle makes her what she is now. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of myself. This story is all about me, I'm the main character of my own story, from my younger self up to now, how I became. I'm Maureen Akiko Valmorida, 28 years old, currently working as OFW here in the Middle east. It's so hard to work here in the Middle East. You need to wake up early in the morning and sleep late at night, we have no choice because our family needs us. Being a breadwinner in the family, having a boyfriend is my last option. For now I focus on how I can help my family. I have 6 sisters. I'm the eldest and so I take the responsibility to help my younger sisters. I'm at a college level. I did not finish college due to financial issues, life is so hard when no one supports you. Even though I try to have a part time job, it isn't enough. So I stop and promise to myself I will help my youngest sister so they won't be experiencing the same difficulties that I've been through. And I want to thank God above. My family is my strength. That's why I can stand until now, without them I'm nothing but just an empty glass. I felt so much joy when I saw my parents smile and say that they are so grateful that I'm able to help them and that brings me lots of joy. I'M back to my senses from reminiscing about my fast. I check my phone at what time it is already past 11 in the evening. I check my emails if I have some messages from my boss saying that I need to be early tomorrow because we have a meeting for our clients, I scroll up to my photos, and my sister uploads a photo of her finally leaving home after 2 years of quarantine, she's only 5 years old I saw her pictures and she's so cute, she smiles showing her 2 teeth on the front like a little bunny oh! I miss them, I miss home, I miss my dogs, I miss my family. I smile and turn off my phone, I turn off the light and head to sleep tomorrow will be my busy day.