Idiosyncrasy and Peculiarity served hot…

I miss our home in Sta. Ana, Manila, the times wherein my Lola wouldn’t allow us to go out because she was so scared that me and my sibs (endless) would get germs, or worse, that people with zany thoughts would harm her poor little angels. confining us was insanely irrational but the thought was very much priceless. I miss the feeling of having a family to care for me that much…

I miss the brownouts in the summer of ‘92, wherein me and my sibs would enjoy and hate each other’s company because there wasn’t anything childish to do but be a rut and a brat. I miss my Titas forcing us to go out into the garden to absorb the vitamins from the sun that we needed, then afterwhich straight we go to our daily piano and violin lessons. I miss Philippine Columbian, giving me and my siblings the nastiest tan line ever, having the french fries after a long tiresome swim, wherein i wickedly placed tons of ketchup on it so that macky couldn’t get any. when nightime came, i miss waiting anxiously with the endless for the electricity to restore so that we could watch our favorite cartoon shows especially our betamax galore of sound of music, ninja turtles, annie, lost boys, simpsons and the little mermaid- pausing it when scuttle twists his feathers with the tinggle hopper and laugh our hearts out. i miss hawaiian lessons with a vile teacher in disguise, and ballet classes with an 18 year old friend. more than all of this, i miss the time when we, the endless genuinely enjoyed each others company, sleeping in each others arms while the tv was running…

I miss our old tradition of Christmas Eve, wherein me and my sibs would beg for our parents to let us open our presents on 11 pm instead of exactly 12 midnight. afterwhich, rushing to the longest table i have ever seen when i was 7 years old, and wait for the helpers to cool down my hot chocolate and toast my pandesal with butter and ham oozing with caramelized sugar. after the abundance of blessings, the family would gather around the sala to listen to us play our christmas pieces that we have been practicing for over 2 months, and clapping in high spirits on how proud they were with us eventhough we got half of the piece entirely in a different tempo. i miss the times wherein we were always complete as a family during christmas eve.

I miss my Assumption friends, the "varsity blues" as i recall, making my last two years in Assumption high the best years i ever had in that school. going to the mall wearing the same attires, buying platforms in woman, writing funny and unbelievably long 6′12 inches letters to each other. talking and singing to each other over the phone for more than 9 hours (powers of 3way and conference). requesting songs at 89.9 and beeping each other ever so often. playing the guitar during recess and lunch, and tried so hard to switch from a boy band gal to a rocker chick. finally having friends to call my own, and who cared for me so much. i miss them… all of them… i miss being close to them, i miss not being strangers in each others sight everytime we see each other lately…..

I miss LBBCA, a place where i never thought i would grow as a person. i miss grace, the very first person in school to accept me, no questions asked. i miss red, my dear friend who gave me a gumamela he picked at burger king near my house when i was sick, and called me once in a while to make sure i was doing alright. i miss gretch, who danced with me in the dance dance mat of the playstation crossing the new year, learning new songs together in the guitar, and having our feel of our first ever mobile phone. i miss mark, who would gently smile and talk to me and at times would completely avoid me leaving me with question marks popping out of my brain. i miss matthew, who carried my luggage up the super ferry boat when we had a convention in cebu. i miss mikee, who would talk to me about fashion and make up during class time. I miss kai, who saw me at my weakest, and always dried the tears from my eyes, when people would hurt me. i miss joshua, who loved me like a kindred spirit, i miss paola who appreciated me for who i was, and saw the beauty within me. i miss fiona who would laugh crazily with me, and would talk about all funny experiences and kwento we had each day. making her my partner in crime in almost anything during our last year in this school. i miss our teachers, who loved us more than they had to, and cared for us more than it being their jobs. i miss conventions, cebu, pangasinan, footlong sanwiches, halo halo, cheese tarts, salabat, awards night, love letters eyeliners, otap, birkenstock hunt, suite room in super ferry, dolphins swimming with the ship. i miss yoyo, who became the only source of strength to get up everyday when i felt like giving up with my life. who made me happy in ways that if i wrote it down would take several days in the making. i miss loving him…i miss the time when  all of them were so close to me instead of scattered in different countries and in different circumstances, having the comfort and peace that i knew they were just there within my reach… (to be continued)