On our Retreat we tried to go back to leap years ago, when we were still a child. Our Retreat master had us remembered what was our childhood like before. Our greatest memories.. After which, he had us write a letter to our little self.

Dearest little Margaux,
You were one of the luckiest kid in the family when you were younger. You were everyone’s center of attention, you were everyone’s baby – even with your older cousins. You were given all the toys you wanted and your mommy brings you wherever she goes. I guess it was like that because it was always just you and your mommy for a couple of years since your papa is away.. She brought you up the best way she could give you. Your family were always behind you and your mom’s back. But always keep in mind, that even if your papa is away, he still loves you and thinks about you 86,400 times a day.

Then we did some other things, basically, still tackled about ourselves, our child self and the now. We talked about the enneagram and how it will do good and bad for us. anyway, at the end of the retreat, we were asked again to write someone who are really close to us, who knew us inside out. I just wrote my papa. even if he’s so faraway and doesn’t really know me inside out. And then we were tasked to write again a letter to ourself – the “ourself now”

My baby girl Margaux,
You are now about to embark another journey of your life. Your entire school life’s almost over. I know you’ve learned a lot from your stay in ESA. So many memorable memories made – from walking through that high wire in Dragon Camp to wandering around Baguio for survival to being immersed with different foreign people and to building your own business. You’ve been to places and hanged with the coolest people you;ve even known. In a few years that has passed, you’ve learned a lot – that its okay to cry when the going gets tough, that you have to live life to the fullest, that it’s okay to take risks, that even small things matter, that YOU matter, that everything will always be okay, that mistakes are inevitable and we learn from them, that things change for a reason, that you are loved, needed and appreciated, that it’s okay to dream big, to keep on dreaming, as long as you wake up from that dream and make it happen, that God will give you everything you ever wanted in the right time. Here it is, God’s gift, ISANG BAGSAKAN – 2010’s your year. Now it’s time to go on, coz life awaits. And always remember I love you 86,400 times a day. You’ll always be my baby girl, Papa

We were asked to end the letter together, and the person we chose will be the signatory. Sakto lang. Just what I thought of. This is what exactly will my papa tell me if he’s going to write me something.

The Retreat was okay. Not what I expected, not what I needed but nevertheless, I still learned something about my self. It is still a good opportunity we should always grab. Coz this moments are rare especially outside the walls of the school and out in the real world. Lucky that we were able to have one before we ended school.