First Summer with the Bae | Happy Birthday Rico!

Maybe God made us bumped into each other while both of us are still in the midst of fixing ourselves to prepare us for that special kind of love that would no longer require people's validation but just live the way life should be. You are my perfect maybe. My answers. My sarcasms. My torture. The kind of murder I hope for more. My honesty. My critique. My couch-potato. My booknerd. My great deal of independence. My freedom. 

A few months back, I was not in a good shape both physically and emotionally. I was not determined to look forward to life. My life stopped for me for a while. I actually wanted to go back to the Philippines and fix myself, fix what was broken and restart. But not until I accepted what was lost and moved on from it. Then you and I crossed paths, asked me to go to church and play badminton and the rest was history. It was an epic start. It was not the fireworks style with rose petals confetti that would melt your heart, it's something exasperating but funny that it still worked out up to now. From the Orchard Christmas-decor-appreciation walk to casual badminton games to late night movie dates to simple food trips to appreciation of the universe to me meeting your friends and enjoying their company to long walks, long bus rides and nonstop conversations that we had to serious and murderous honest arguments,  my little heart jumped out of excitement and happiness. And because of you I find socializing with people ahead of my age fun and alive. I live not only because of you but because you made me chose to live again by letting me choose to lift myself up after being consumed by heartache.

Indeed, you had a rough start too. You had it all figured out on your own and I am very proud that little by little, you're getting there. However, I firmly believe that you wouldn't have gone through it all without my motivational prowess. (at some point...not bragging LOL). We have downsides that the two of us resolved too and I guess you don't want to get our friendship tested with boiling waters. Minor conflicts that turned into a source of laughter and life lessons that each of us exchanged. I don't know what is going onto your mind but my heart knows how you gave a huge impact on my growth as a person. Seriously, I don't think I contributed much on what you are now, but I hope I inspired you to experience life again. To never be afraid of what life awaits us, to always stand firm on positive thoughts and become fearless of the beyond and to look back but to never return to what breaks us (ang arte). 

To my platonic soulmate, we were not meant to be romantically involved, although the love and concern we have for each other exists, it was not meant to stretch beyond the pure unions of friendship; it was not meant to stretch at our heart strings but to see the splendor of our existence (it was meant to appreciate our noise and voice and some nonsense we ought to see both beautiful and annoying); it was not meant to stretch past the boundaries you subconsciously set to ensure that things don't become complicated if ever we noticed something; it was not meant to stretch into emotional destinations that have no return ticket if we took that plunge.  So is it so hard to believe that our paths are perfectly aligned and we were placed in each other's lives even if it isn't for romantic purpose? Is it so hard to fathom that  a deep love can exist between two people whose only intention is pouring the love that exists between them back into a friendship? Romance is not the only driving force the universe brings souls together, growth and love can exist without it. Perhaps we were not meant to be romantic, perhaps we were just meant to be.

We have already asked ourselves this question, "Have you ever wondered why you meet certain people in your life who, at first, you thought would stay but still left anyway?" And we have the same answer. We totally nailed some situations we thought we would never survive. And just like before you and I became crossed-star friends, who didn't like parts of each other but the "I don't like parts of you and your honesty." kind of friendship I never thought would blossom for reasons I know not.

3 months ago, I was thinking of what could be the perfect gift I can give you for your birthday. It was not difficult at all since we both love to keep our eyes distracted with words from books we fall in love with. For the past months that we have been each other's company laughing, soul-searching, loving life, "experiencing life" again, it was pretty obvious how passionate you are to the sport you're playing and I am always surprise whenever I enter your room and spot your mini library (it stuns me) and how you managed to help yourself right after the accident you had been through that almost made you hopeless (I'm proud of how tough you are). Months have passed and you never fail to surprise me with your "partner!" shout while playing the last notch to win the game. You are always the kind of person I will never get tired of listening to the shout, kwentos and of life's miseries and frabjous mementos.

Happy birthday to my best Bae! You are wonderfully made that all the stars in the universe conformed to let awesome people like us meet. Adversaries are turning into opportunities to let us enjoy life more and explore good places and widen our horizons with oddities people we meet along the way bring. See the beauty of believing and dreaming and unraveling highlights of life. Your wisdom is your superpower and your feisty personality makes me admire you more. And again, though clichè, as much as I want to become stingy to the world, I want the world to see how deserving you are to be loved and appreciated and how special you are as a person (medyo galingan na natin sa life at ang love life ay huwag na nating takbuhan). Mahal kita, alam mo yan! :)

Always,

Jhara (Madam Ses)

xoxo