Dear Gabrielle, There was a time I craved his attention. I wanted his love. Even with all his failures, I still wanted him to see me. To acknowledge me. To say, “I love you.” There was a time I judged my father and found him deserving of my forgiveness. I looked into his eyes and…
The Wheel Was Turning… Dear Gabrielle, It’s not that I didn’t dream last night. I did. I know I did. It was long and layered. Engaging. Dramatic. I can still feel the aftertaste—faint, like perfume in a hallway long emptied. It’s right there, sitting on the tip of my tongue. But I can’t grasp it….
I had a dream this morning, sometime around 6 a.m. It came after another one I can’t quite remember — the way dreams sometimes evaporate before our conscious mind can reach them. But this one stayed. In the dream, I wake up in my house — my bedsitter — but this time, I have a…
Dear Gabrielle, I had a strange dream last night — not disturbing, not sad, but deeply layered. In the dream, I was in a student’s hostel, yet the room was cluttered with my own furniture. Familiar. Personal. There were four or five double-decker beds in the room, worn mattresses and all, and I remember wondering:…
Dear Gabrielle, Last night, I had a dream so vivid it has stayed with me all day. I was in a classroom—my usual place, front row, prepared, textbooks in order. I’m always the student who tries, who shows up, who wants to be ready. But this time, something was different. We were expecting a guest….
Dear Gabrielle, Why do I write to you? ✧ Because I Hope You’ll Exist I hope I’ll have a girl and a boy. But if I had to choose, I’d choose a girl. For all the wrong reasons. And for all the right ones, too. Maybe it’s because I lost a girl once. Maybe I’m…
Dear Gabrielle, My boss is grieving. Consecutive deaths, weeks apart. We don’t get along—on paper, we’re civil. We talk. We smile. But behind those polite exchanges, there is no love between us. And yet, when death came for him, I felt something heavy shift within me. Pity. Sorrow. Empathy. Because I know firsthand how cruel…
Sometimes, our stars fall short Dear Gabrielle, I never wanted to be light-skinned more than I do now. As I haul myself—literally and emotionally—back into the dating world, I can’t help but feel old. Thirty-four.Last year, I still felt young.This year, mortality has found me. Harshly. Bluntly. By the end of this year, I’ll be…
Dear Gabrielle, Last night, I had a vivid dream—one of those that lingers long after you wake up. The Dream I visited a friend from primary school. We were best friends until our parents decided we should attend different schools. Her parents moved her to a better school with more promise, and our friendship ended…
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