This is The Ailene.

Dear Future Self,

Do you remember growing up in Project 4? How, at this time of the year, the narra trees would be near-barren as it prepares for the flowers of May? Literally: Flores de Mayo. I don’t know what the weather’s like in your timeline, but right now, the weather all over the world’s pretty crazy. Raining during summer, cold when it shouldn’t be, sunny during December. El Nino, La Nina, all these Spanish bambinos taking our weather hostage and making it unreliable.

Everything’s in transition. The weather, our businesses, our career, this world. And I am caught up in this weird maelstrom of conflicting emotions so like that immortal song: “Should I stay or should I go now?”

But I wanted to talk about our childhood, and how I don’t want us to ever forget what it was like when the floors were still made of dirt, and there was barely any paint on the walls, and the garage was, well, not a garage, but a big vacant lot full of fruit trees. And grampa’s chicken, not chickens. What books we had was given (or donated, or handed down). And my parents and I rode the jeep from our house to Ali Mall. During the rainy season, it would flood. Up until we were 16 we weren’t comfortable leaving things on the floor during June to October.

Don’t forget.

Because now I’m here sitting in some posh, hipster cafe, eating fries drizzled with chocolate. And our Ayla is a materials engineer professor and she just finished making the finals exam for her students. We haven’t had to worry about mopping down flooded floors since 2000, because we’ve never had that problem in a long time. In fact, now we just worry about how good the fabric softener smells and/or if it gives us hives. Or how “organic” our shampoo can be. And I am mastering the art of managing my time so that I can squeeze in no less than 14 meetings in a week, while playing Draw Something during lunch breaks. I have never had to worry about the rush hour commute in a looooonngg time.

So don’t forget.

Ebenezer. Thus far has He led us.