Welcome to TFAW Letters — The Holiday Edition by the Filipino American Woman Project 🎁

I’m your host, Jen Amos.

Just like the FAHM edition, I will read fictionalized letters — my creative interpretation of real conversations with you!

These letters have been woven with heart, reflection, and truth to honor your stories while protecting your privacy.

It all begins with one line, “If I could say one thing.”

RSVP for the Upcoming Family Potluck — NOV 21st! Click HERE.

If you could reflect on one thing, it’s this:

What is one small, beautiful thing you can notice and be grateful for in this very moment?

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this message is for anyone facing loss, uncertainty, or chronic illness—and for those who have supported a loved one through it.

Through tender recognition and reflective gratitude, the writer explores what it means to redefine joy, choose life, and live one day at a time.

Whether confronting the limitations of the body, the dissatisfaction of fame, or the weight of living in the diaspora and homesickness, this letter honors the quiet resilience it takes to keep going.

If you’ve ever delayed a goodbye, wished you had more time, or found strength in small moments, this one’s for you.

This concludes Filipino American History Month 💙❤️💛

Thanks for listening! We hope to read your letter in the upcoming season.

Stay tuned for TFAW Letters: Holiday Edition! 🎊

Got any plans for Friday, November 21st?

Whether you’re a new or long-time listener of TFAW Project, you are invited to our Family Potluck — a FREE networking event thanks to our TFAW PenPals & First Readers.

What to Expect

Think of a professional networking event, but with casual, easy-going Filipino family potluck vibes.

Our tentative agenda:

* Icebreaker: What memory comes to mind when you hear “family potluck?”

* Introductions:

* How long have you been listening to the show?

* Would you like to share anything? (i.e., Promote your business, share the latest book you’ve read, updates on your vision board, a mental health check-in, or just hang out!)

* Socializing: Candid conversations for the remainder of the time.

Open to the Community!

Please select ALL times on Friday, November 21st that work best for you, and we’ll go with the majority vote! Please ONLY vote if you plan to attend, so that I can include you in the calendar invite. 💛

💛 Jen

P.S. First-time attendees of TFAW Project events will receive a special gift. 🎁

Questions? Contact Jen: jen@tfawproject.com

If you could reflect on one thing, it’s this:

Who’s driving your story today?

This letter is for the quiet, faithful listeners who never thought to share their story—until one letter changes everything.

On her usual commute to work, a flashback surfaced—one that reminds the writer why she rarely speaks freely. The memory takes place in the backseat of a family van, when a cousin told her to shut up… and no one said anything.

Now, decades later, with her hands on the wheel and her favorite podcast playing, she realizes something has changed:

She’s the one driving. And she has something to say.

If you’ve ever kept your thoughts to yourself because you were afraid of being reprimanded, this one’s for you.

If you’re searching for resources on Filipino American history, then you are invited to join our FAHM Challenge! 💌

For October, upgrade your subscription to TFAW PenPals — for FREE — to participate in our 31-Day Challenge to collect, share, and discuss Filipino American History resources with our online community.

Already a Free Subscriber?

Scroll down to the bottom of our latest email and select “Get Free Upgrade Now.”

Note to first-time subscribers

If you don’t receive a welcome email, please check your SPAM folder and save tfawletters@substack.com as a trusted contact.

Already a TFAW PenPal?

Join the Challenge now by clicking HERE.

If you could reflect on one thing, it’s this:

How are you contributing to Filipino American History today?

This letter is for anyone who has ever felt lost in the search for cultural belonging—especially during Filipino American History Month.

Jen begins with a candid reading of her letter, as if she’s speaking directly to our First Readers. She contemplates the difference between longing for lost history and honoring the living history already around us. Whether acknowledging passive observation, caretakers we take for granted, or having empathy for the movers and shakers of our Filipino community today, this letter offers an invitation to get involved.

If you’ve ever romanticized your search for identity, overlooked those already preserving our stories, or waited too long to show appreciation, this one’s for you.

If you’re searching for resources on Filipino American history, then you are invited to join our FAHM Challenge! 💌

For October, upgrade your subscription to TFAW PenPals — for FREE — to participate in our 31-Day Challenge to collect, share, and discuss Filipino American History resources with our online community.

Already a Free Subscriber?

Scroll down to the bottom of our latest email and select “Get Free Upgrade Now.”

Note to first-time subscribers

If you don’t receive a welcome email, please check your SPAM folder and save tfawletters@substack.com as a trusted contact.

Already a TFAW PenPal?

Welcome to TFAW Letters — the Filipino American History Month edition by the Filipino American Woman Project 💙❤️💛

I’m your host, Jen Amos.

Just like our summer series, I will read fictionalized letters — my creative interpretation of real conversations with you!

These letters have been woven with heart, reflection, and truth to honor your stories while protecting your privacy.

It all begins with one line, “If I could say one thing.”

…because sometimes one thing is all we need to take up a little more space.

Let’s get started.

If you’re searching for resources on Filipino American history, then you are invited to join our FAHM Challenge! 💌

For October, upgrade your subscription to TFAW PenPals — for FREE — to participate in our 31-Day Challenge to collect, share, and discuss Filipino American History resources with our online community.

Already a Free Subscriber?

Scroll down to the bottom of our latest email and select “Get Free Upgrade Now.”

Note to first-time subscribers

If you don’t receive a welcome email, please check your SPAM folder and save tfawletters@substack.com as a trusted contact.

Already a TFAW PenPal?

If you could reflect on one thing, it’s this:

What do the clothes you wear and conversations you have today say about the community you've built — or hope to build?

This letter is for anyone who’s ever tried to blend in—only to realize how it only makes you feel lonelier.

To wrap up the Summer Series, Jen reflects on her evolving identity as a Filipino American woman—tracing her journey from childhood birthdays filled with vibrant love, to the muted grief of losing a built-in community, to rediscovering color, voice, and belonging on her own terms.

If you’ve ever wondered what you had to change to be accepted, tried on different versions of yourself to fit in, or walked away from a place where you felt “othered”… This one’s for you.

This concludes our Summer Series. ☀️

Thank you for listening, and stay tuned for Filipino American History Month! 💙❤️💛

If you could reflect on one thing, it’s this:

Whose voice shaped your definition of success—and does it still hold true?

This letter is for anyone who has ever felt like their career choices were never enough.

Through much clarity, the writer explores what it means to break free from a parent’s version of stability—and instead build a life aligned with purpose, not predictability. Whether confronting generational expectations or making peace with a mother who may never understand, this letter offers a moment of quiet self-trust.

If you’ve ever heard your parents’ voice in your head when you’re trying to make a decision, or struggled to explain your unconventional path to someone who just doesn’t get it—this one’s for you.

If you could reflect on one thing, it’s this:

What are you still allowing that you now have the power to change?

This letter is for anyone who’s ever witnessed someone they love live small in order to survive.

The writer speaks to her cousins, trying to help them see the impact of a domineering father. Though now adults with careers, they still live under his roof: polite, submissive, and living like NPCs. The writer reflects on how her own journey of independence has made her more aware of what her cousins never had.

Whether you’ve been the one watching from the outside or the one still inside the house, this letter shines a light on what’s unspoken in some Filipino families: the cost of obedience, the price of silence, and the risk of choosing yourself.