Memory box

Was cleaning up my dresser and decided to sort through the stuff in one of my jewelry boxes. I have a cluster of them on the dresser (although technically a couple are just plastic containers), but there's one that's separated from the rest, a small, heavy, silver one with no compartments, no locks or anything. I guess it's been years since I last went through it, so I was a little surprised at some of the things I found. I think I consciously separated this box from the others because I didn't just put jewelry in it, but some things that I thought were valuable (in the most subjective sense of the word) or just worth keeping.

A bunch of Neoprints. Some with my barkada, looking all young and carefree. One with some members of Sanggu (the Ateneo student council) 2000. I think we had it taken one day when we went to Sta. Lucia. Haven't been there in so long. It used to be one of the go-to places in between (or during) classes.

Envelopes. Some empty, some with cards from my parents, and one with P500! Woohoo! That was a nice surprise.

Jewelry, of course. Broken pieces, earrings with missing locks, locks with missing earrings. A few silver bracelets. A tiny tangled-up gold bracelet. The pearl earrings I thought I lost years ago. A gold ring with a green stone, given to me by one of the kids we used to teach at church. Pink earrings I got from somewhere in Europe, probably from Italy--I remember Tanya and I got the exact same pair. (We also got identical pairs of shoes.) A bracelet with colorful plastic roses that H gave, back in college--the band has long since lost its elasticity.

Photographs. There's one of H in Galera on a lovely summer day, sitting in a chair, wearing his Dockers hat (it was actually mine, but it fit him perfectly), and with a nice cold drink in his hand--he has a picture of me in the exact same pose (also wearing the hat and with a drink in hand). My college grad pic proofs, and the last couple of grad pics. A friend's grad pic proof (I think she either ran out of or lost her pics). A pic of my mom with a wax figure of Pope John Paul II at Madame Tussaud's--I think I unearthed it when the pope died and ended up putting it in the box. A pic of Kuya Ramon, one of my cousins who passed away. He must've given that about 20 years ago. There's a message at the back which says, "Here is a picture of me so you won't ever forget me." How can I? He saved my life. And when he was in the hospital, I prayed that God would save his. But I guess He had other plans. There's also a pic from Jonathan, another cousin who passed away. He, Tanya, and I were the only ones in the family who were about the same age. Part of his message goes, "Don't show all your friends. They might fall in love." Classic Jon. They lived in the US so we didn't have a lot of chances to bond, but we would write to each other. I miss them. I actually dreamt about my other relatives in New York last night--Jon's brother Kuya Ed, Kuya Ramon's parents. Strange. I've really gotta save up and get my butt over there next year to visit them.

Sigh. Back to cleaning.