Things I found during the break

I told myself I would fix up my room during Holy Week. I divided the space into little project areas, but only managed to clear one measly spot. Was beginning to clear area #2 when I came across a bag filled with stuff that was years and years old. This, of course, stopped me from going through the rest of my junk. Things that were in the bag:

• An old newspaper article about (Ric, you’re gonna love this!) Q-Zar! This was probably around 15 years old, as its yellowed edges could attest. It had a black-and-white picture of Santino, Edmund, and JJ, and the story was about how these rich kids were making their own money. I kept it because at that time in my life, Q-Zar was a big deal to me. On schooldays, I would find ways to drop by and sneak in a game or just say hi to the marshals who had become our friends. (And, in the case of some, crushes. Hahaha.)

• Little pieces of paper scribbled with notes. My awful writing was scrawled on two teeny pieces from an old notepad. These recorded two milestones way back in 1991—1) “Went to Marbella with my family,” (Marbella is now Caylabne), and 2) “Met President Corazon Aquino. Shook hands with her.” I don’t remember much about the Marbella trip; I do remember my dad emerging from a helicopter. When I told H about the second piece of paper, he looked surprised. We still hadn’t met when I used to enjoy certain privileges, so finding out that I had met and shook hands with Tita Cory was probably sort of unexpected. (I also met FVR, if I remember right.)
  

• A letter to Cris Bustos. I feel bad that I never got to mail this letter to Cris. She had just moved away, and I tend to keep in touch with people who leave because I think it must be lonely moving to a new place with none of your friends around. (Email and the Internet weren't a part of everyday life back then.) The envelope was covered with little notes from our other high school classmates. The letter itself was mostly about our boys back then, and how the word “orgy” caused outrage. It also included this gem:

Use “guava” in a sentence.
Nagpagupit ako. Masa-guava?

I actually laughed out loud when I read it, and Mike quite enjoyed it when I told him about it. Anyhoo, if I could track down Cris, it’d be cool to send her that letter-slash-time capsule!

• Old postcards from Paris. Bought more than ten years ago on a trip to Paris, these babies had images of places I don’t even remember seeing. Instead of buying postcards of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe, I bought those with images that I can’t even recognize. Strange. I gave H one, writing a little note at the back. It’d be awesome going back to Paris, this time with the love of my life!

Another thing I found, or rather, found out: I could sit through three hours of the Seven Last Words, even in this summer heat, all for the love of my mother (and for Jesus!). And was quite impressed that my brother did the same. But I guess, for other people, the tangibles are more interesting.