I MISS YOU.

And for that, I reminisced a bit and came up with this TEST.
Let's see if you get this all right. :)

Surprises

A real nice black blouse.

Chocolates from Ghirardelli. I’m not a chocolate addict but he brought drinking chocolate especially for me. I like putting milk and chocolate on my brewed coffee.

A black wallet. Confession: I don't really buy wallets. I am usually given one as a gift. But the one that I last used is just a nice freebie from my sister. The reason, I am not too fond of the usual big wallets with too many cards and pictures inside. But I like what he bought. It's tri-fold so the size was just right. And it’s plain and simple black with some white stitching on the side. And the catch is that he bought two. A his and hers for both of us.

Nintendo DS Lite: my really really really wish that I didn’t really ask him to buy. I am just hoping he'd be thoughtful enough to think that I wanted one. Anyway, these was almost replaced by a bag. Or was it the other way around? Since the baby puppies are all gone, this is my new baby.

Last but not the least, a heartbreak. Yep! One, big painful one.

D E A F

Asking..
Trying..
Wishing..
Praying..
No one seems to listen.

Calling..
Pleading..
Hoping..
Yearning..
No one seems to hear.

Screaming..
Shouting..
Demanding..
Expecting..
No one seems to understand.

Begging..
Hurting..
Longing..
Aching..
No one seems to care.

Cherub Nikolai

Two years of your life. More than a year you’ve spent with us and the other part, you couldn’t be with us anymore. But we couldn’t lose you, you know we couldn’t bear not to see you, your smile, your voice, your funny antics, your serious looks and your sweet gestures.

I always fear that you might forget all about us. That you eventually learn to talk, not only the “Ba---!” and “Broom-broom!”, but pronounce words and names and you wouldn’t know us. That one day, we pick you up and you wouldn’t want to come.

Even though we just see you once a week, we always look forward to that. It’s always worth the wait every time you enter the house. Oftentimes with a serious sleepy face in pajamas at first, but after a while, it’s like you remember and then you warm up and start to give out that smile. When you talk spontaneously as if telling stories, with meaningless words, we would listen. The way you look forward to riding the car, knowing that we’re taking you to some place you like. When we tell you something to do or just talk to you, your eyes clearly say that you understand.

I write this so that after many years, when you’re old enough, you’ll know. We aren’t really your true-blooded relatives but you are a part of our family. We loved you, we are loving you and we will always love you. We will always be here for you as much as we can. Happy 2nd birthday our sweetest angel.

Cousins' Bonding

The last beach outing with the Marcials was way back when we were still kids. This year, the plans were finally realized at a beach ni Catalagan, Batangas.
And for the first time, all the Marcial siblings were complete, almost. With Tita and Papa and a bonus of two babies, Mavee and Ikoy.

Thanks to Ate who planned it all. Lij for the sponsored transpo. Thanks to Miro, for the very well cooked liempo, and fish, for dinner. Swimming in the beach felt like we were all kids again. Playing with the sand, making Marlon a mermaid. And of course, the picture taking where we all should be caught in mid-air, jumping. Twenty-one people fit into the family room with 9 single beds. Some bonding and drinking session during the night, then we’re all asleep.

The next day, a Max’s-sponsored lunch at Tagaytay. Then we headed home. Wasn’t able to rest much during the weekend, but it sure was a fun and memorable one.

CIFFART!

If she has this line, ‘Chawo, Chawo, may zoo ba sa Cebu?’ from me, I have the title above as the tag line for her. Before meeting her in person, we had a couple of conversations already. I was very excited to finally see her.

"CIFFART! CIFFART!", with a high pitched tone on a bass voice, sounded weird, the first time she said this out loud. I thought it was a word in Bisaya. But this, she shouted out of the blue, in the middle of the traffic in Edsa, on our way to watch a movie. A little explanation and we know now what it means. They kept on repeating the word, but I couldn't say it.

Three times she went here and spent time with us: lunch at Leslie’s, trip to the zoo in Tagaytay, movie, mall shopping, plus the special visit to the kids in Cribs! At the end of every day, we look forward to the brewed coffee before going to bed, who gets to take a bath first and the never-ending laugh (‘Justin, matulog ka na, nakangiti ka pa rin!’), before finally sleeping.

In those times, she gave a warm acceptance in our welcome. And I feel, she’s part of our family, officially.

Charo, I am excited to see you soon! Again!

Tito Rey

I will never forget the look on his face when he visited mommy in the hospital, a few years ago. I do not have a good singing voice but as mommy requested, I was singing Tanging Yaman for her when Tito Rey came in. He stood at the other side of the bed, his face stooped down, gloomy and sad. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he’s trying hard to hide it, trying to put on a smile on his handsome face. “… sulyap ng yong, kagandahan..” At this point, he couldn’t contain his emotions and just cried out, “Ate!” and literally cried, and hugged her.

Tito Rey is mommy’s younger brother. My sisters always thought that he has the kindest heart, of mommy’s brothers. He has this comforting voice in the sweetest tone, when he greets us and calls our names. But we seldom see him in our reunions because he was always busy and he needed to attend to his own family. This year, all of us were very glad because he was able to attend Nanay’s birthday. It was a must that he joins every family picture. And finally, we were able to give our gift for him this year. The Christmas reunion became even merrier. Indeed, a time for family, sharing and love.