Hey there internet surfer,

today's letter is addressed to my sister Mariam. Aaaand it'll be short but sweet, hopefully.

Dear Maz,

You know how people say that over the years, their bond with their sibling is maintained, strengthened or weakened? I have to say that with us, it's kinda been full of ups and downs.

Ever since you started high school, it's been awesome. I finally have someone who understands what I had been going through, someone who actually looked up to me and asked me questions they wouldn't ask mama. Although we yell, pinch, scream, kick, jump and punch each other, within the hour, all is forgiven. It's like I don't think of it, it's ignored. 

I can't hold a grudge from you. It's actually really hard to, and if I do succeed, it's only for a few minutes before you make me laugh.

You always say the quirkiest things, or structure you sentence weirdly. Actually, it's pretty awesome having a sister that streaks her hair red, is into the arts, listens to country and slow rock, plays flute, bakes and loves the whole self care routine of hair, make up and stuff.

I'm pretty much the opposite, but you don't give a flying crap. You still persistently bug me with stuff you would tell people into the things your into.

It's not bad because I do the same to you! I love my science facts, nutritional advice, R&B music, preference to go natural and interest in soccer. But you listen to me when I give you all that stuff.

Our grounds overlap in terms of cultural identity and TV shows :P

You and I helped each other through that self-discovery of who we were, and to this day, you are one of the most influential people I know.

Thanks Maz, for listening, being catty, doing my hair and nails for me, choosing out my clothes, baking non-stop goods, letting me ramble and for being the friend who accepts me no matter anything.

I LOVE YOU LIL SIS! (I know you hate it when we say the L-word :P)

Zaz ;P x0x0x0x

Hey there kind earthlings :D

Before I begin the next letter, I would just like to address something. I hope you may be able to give your prayers to a family friend, who recently gave birth to a premature child but suffered acute respiratory failure after the delivery. She is a beautiful and wonderful person, and a great friend of my aunt's. Although I haven't seen her for over 8 years, I still want this to be shared so together we can pray for her. InshaAllah (If God wills), she will be out of her state of coma. 

So the letter of the day goes to my mother!

ENJOY :D

Dear Mum,

Actually, no. That word doesn't even do you justice. Just plain old 'mum'. You deserve a multisyllable word that can recognize all your efforts and amazing-ness. Superiffic Mum. That's slightly better.

Ok

Dear Superiffic Mum,

I cannot even begin to comprehend the significant impact you have had on my life. All your imperative life lessons that have truly aided me in my hours of despair AND joy. Aside from that, your simple presence just makes me feel heaps safer and happier.

I have always looked up to you. Your ability to talk to people, find a solution to every problem and deal with life’s complications. I used to look at mothers in movies, who would let their children throw their temper tantrums, and act nothing of it, or the mothers who would sit around most of the day, doing lord-knows-what.

I used to get annoyed that you were always doing something. But then I realised that I am just like you. I cannot sit for a second straight without having to do something, or feeling guilty for not. I thought of it as a curse, but really it’s the biggest blessing of all.

Productivity, moderation, acceptance, speaking up, loving, forgiving, honesty. All these you emphasised. You told me to do my personal best. You stood by every decision I made.

You founded your own school! And with a billion other commitments, you are still successfully running it.

I don’t want this to be a short letter, but I am quite sure that you’d appreciate me studying for tomorrow’s test rather than going on about how great you are. Modesty as always.

But I want you to know this mum, even if I do not get to personally deliver this to you, I want you to know that you have always been my number one. Thank you so much for making my childhood so pleasant, and for pampering me like a princess, and for equipping me with all your tricks on how to cope with life’s stresses, and most importantly, enjoy them and love life. I LOVE YOU MAMA :’D

Love Zahraa xoxoxo

Happy Sunday everybodaay.

Here’s the letter for the day: letter to a crush. I encourage you all to do this at one point. It took me almost forever to pinpoint someone that I was infatuated with.
The reason why I am writing this letter is to demonstrate my belief that it is perfectly acceptable to have feelings for another. It is impossible to control attraction towards certain people often, so I want to show that having these feelings is perfectly human, but it is how we act that determines our character.
I guess at this age, I am not seeking anything, nor am I hopeful for a partner or whatnot. In fact, I am more leaning towards the other side of the spectrum where I DON'T view others in a romantic light. But this is perhaps the most relevant to the theme today. So here goes nothing :P

Dear Old Infatuation,

This is perhaps one of the most dynamic parts of my life, and as I currently do not have one, I will have to say you were probably the one I most admired. I don’t think I am the only one when I say that having a crush during high school is almost second nature. It is innate, and you sorta want to grow up to tell your little girl, or your grandchildren, or whomever that (insert name here) was your source of oxygen during high school. Ok SLIGHT OVER EXAGGERATION

My first interaction with you made me hate your guts. You were rowdy, obnoxious, rude and competitive. But my friends loved you. Everybody loved you. In their eyes, you were charming, a great lad, smart and funny, pretty much the whole package. The following few days at school did not help me warm up to you at all. Early in the morning, you’d walk through the locker bay like you owned the place. You knew that you could interrupt conversations and still maintain your reputation.

I had grown adjusted to the negatives of your personality, I failed to acknowledge that we were more alike than not. I saw you meditating, and admired the fact that you could put all your friends and the adoring school community behind, and prioritize seeking peace. I respected you about 10% more than before.

A few weeks passed and the school’s attention on you was diminishing. You stopped your antics and flirting. One day, you approached me about borrowing my calculator. The way you asked made me rethink my attitude towards you. So I lent it to you. I made a joke about it being my magic wand. I didn’t expect you to connect it as a Harry Potter reference. When you returned it, I stored it away, but the next time I pulled it out, I saw a message typed into the notes of the calculator (CAS). “Thank you for letting me borrow your Dragon Heartstring wand.”

I thought it was cute. We maintained a hi/ bye relationship, and on some occasions you would sit at my table in class. The next year, we shared a class together. And from talking to you, I realised that though you were stubborn, very opinionated, so was I!

And then and there was when that small feeling developed. We both moved to different schools.

Now, when I see you, I smile. It’s phatic talk between us. I guess we realized it would be better to lower the level of interaction between us.

Thank you for allowing me to realise that sometimes, following your emotions blindly is not the smartest thing to do. You understood everything I was trying to represent, and supported it. You did not ask questions, because you knew it all. It was great. A warm fuzzy blanket that will probably remain in my gut throughout my all of my adolescence. Thanks mate.

Hey there ^.^

So I remember coming across a 30 day letter challenge on Wattpad once, where a user had uploader 30 different letters, addressed to various people. The writer basically poured out all emotions she felt about their sort of relationship. I found it pretty cool and recently looked it up. My fellow friend and I decided to embark on a quest to write all these letters. We've modified the challenge so we may upload every Sunday (for me) and Friday (for her).

So ye. Link to challenge: http://30daychallenges.net/challenges/info/1 

If you check out my friend's blog, you'll see that she has addressed her first letter to a future best friend. I'm going to address mine to a best friend from the past....

Dear Past-Best Friend,

The five or six years of my life that I spent knowing you were honestly the best. If you had asked me then, what a best friend is, I would have probably answered with 'I don't know', as we always committed to calling our exclusive friendship as 'just close friends', knowing that ultimately we would end up at different high schools, most likely not maintaining such a strong friendship. How smart we were as that is precisely what did end up happening. But I'm not gonna dwell on the 'could-haves' or 'would-haves' of our friendship. Nope. I'm gonna acknowledge the amazing-ness of it all. The Awepicsomallity (word we made up) of it all. So today, when somebody asks me the same question, I tell them that you are the definition of best friend. 

This may be mega corny but all good things don't last. We knew that from the beginning and persevered to make the most of it. From the beginning of year 3, I was on the playground, wondering around aimlessly till I spotted you. We spent the rest of lunchtime making up rhymes about each other. From then onwards, we moved seats, and got up to all kinds of mischief together. We were the awesome twosome that were attached at hip. Well that's what the teachers used to say anyway. You always defended me, and put me first. You knew immediately whether or not I was having a bad day. You understood the concept of personal space. You managed to always crack me up and your wittiness and creativity never ceased to amaze me. There was never any jealousy or competition, we were two bodies sharing one mind. 

That bond between us, and being able to complete each other's sentences and thoughts was truly beyond our years. The fact that we were not so alike made our friendship all the better. You and your artsy thoughts, always with a notepad and pencil, and your neatness, and me with my clustered data and messy ideas. You made me confident and made my self esteem skyrocket! I didn't care that we were giving up numerous lunch times to be leaders or read for younger kids. I didn't mind that people saw us as goody goods. That stuff didn't matter to me. Just the fact that you were alongside me to do all the crazy good things was enough.

  
And then when we separated and every birthday, a phone call was enough. It restored our friendship. It was as though we had been hanging out regularly for the past year and hadn't gone our ways. You still support me, and I know that when I dial your number, you will pick up and listen and laugh. But I can't. It hurts that sometimes, I would ignore your messages, and slowly you started doing the same. We let other people in. But that's the beauty of life, innit? We meet people and then we meet people. The biggest present you ever gave me was that maturity. That key to wisdom. You let me understand that I can overcome loss. 

Thank you. For everything.

Love always,
Zahraa