Nostalgia
and everything else that comes with it

in black and white
For months now, a heavy brown balikbayan box has been gathering itself dust at one corner of the living room at my grandfather's house. It was only today that we finally decided to do acknowledge it by volunteering to clean the box out with my younger cousins, mainly due to the huge lack of anything better to do.

We didn't really think much of it, assuming that all it probably contained was a swarm of grainy old novenas and old photos we'd already seen before. But much to our surprise, going through the entire box instead enabled us to uncover decades into the past, right from the time my grandmother used to be a student herself, up to the time colored photos were finally invented.




mickey mouse money!


We found a lot more (libo libo mehn...) but I wasn't able to scan everything. I'll post more next time when I can...


happy anniversary lolo and lola!
Although already 7 years have passed since my lola's death in 1998, my grandfather still makes it a point to celebrate their wedding anniversary every year (kaya kumain kami sa Max kanina. hehehe). I was really moved to see him a while ago, still standing inspite of the difficulties losing somebody exceedingly close to his heart has given him. There was even a point wherein he picked up one of my grandmother's old autograph books and read through the pages with a meaningful look in his eyes, making the creases on his forehead suddenly look so significantly etched in his face. For one moment, I really felt like he was going to cry. And it really made me want to cry.

Because even though I don't like cheese, at many times I am cheese, so everything felt cheesy. I've never seen anything more genuine than an old man's undying love for the woman he grew old with... and that really is something I'd like to experience myself decades from now.

So ayan... that's my trip down memory lane for today, which definitely won't be my last.