Letter to the Little Prince

" Dear Little Prince,

I need to talk to you about my friend as I am worried.
I often refer to my friendship with Winnie as a strong and reliable relationship, supposed to last for a long time. We met when I moved to Vietnam a year ago and it took us a bit of time to get used to each other. But once we both understood we could count on one another, we had a blast sharing our previous lives, our dreams and our expectations. We would spend a lot of time together, discussing about nothing and everything. I had a lot of fun.

Winnie met Andre in November 2005 and falled in love right away. She was patient enough to wait for him to realize how lucky he was to have her as a friend and that she was willing to give him her heart, no matter the cost. In July this year, for her birthday, they finally connected. Since this day, Winnie went from the sweet and funny girl that I met to this lady focusing mainly on what her boyfriend thinks. I am not blaming Andre but I think Winnie gives him way more than he gives her. Of course, there are some very positive changes: she is more girly, she cares about how she looks, she is happy and smiling. But I cannot find anymore this unique friend who used to care about anyone around her, about what she was doing in her life, about meeting new people... If you check her blog, it is all about Andre and how great he is. I am sure he is a great guy, don't get me wrong. You may think I am jealous because she does not spend all her time with me anymore. But let me tell you that you are wrong: I want Winnie to be happy and to spend time with her friends more than with me. I know I am a difficult person with a very strong personality. I have been often betrayed by people around me and everytime it hurt very badly. But everytime I grew stronger. I am fine being on my own now as I have dreams that I want to reach. I guess Winnie pictured it very well: I am expecting to be betrayed and to be alone. I am therefore protecting myself by isolating myself first... But this is a different story.

Honestly, I am so afraid that Winnie gets hurt. I would like to tell her to be careful, to go one step after the other and to remember that there is a world out there. But I am not sure she will hear me and understand me. I cannot afford losing her so I don't feel like telling her anything. It is like the snake biting its own tail: if I don't tell her, how could the situation improve, right ?

If I could make a wish right now, it would be for Winnie and Andre to be happy together ever after and to realize that I worried too much for nothing.

I am not her sister, I am not her mother, but I know Winnie can be a great person if she trust herself a bit more instead of associating herself to someone else. I wish she would stand up and say " I am what I am and you have to love me for what I am" and not "I wish I would be more like Andre instead of being the way I am now" or " I am afraid my friends will be disappointing because I am not up to their expectations". There is no reason to be afraid about the others' expectations because if they are her friends, and I know they are, then they would not judge her but admire her for what she is."

Winnie, please be yourself and the rest will follow. Trust yourself and trust us...

No offense, please.