Memories

People find it weird when I tell them that I could still remember "scenes" from my childhood.

Okay, so that didn't come out right. What I meant was that I could still remember certain events when I was still about a year old and the only words I knew were the likes of "aboojoo jaji".

Y-eah.

Memory #1: For some reason, I still remember my first birthday, when Kuya held me as we sat on our yellow couch, Kuya Edgar on the floor to our right, our cousin Ate Jena (also on the floor) to our left. Somebody took our picture but I forgot who it was. I just remember being held and sitting on my brother's lap. There was also a moment that day when they made me sit on soft table that looked like a big, round ottoman and around me were all my presents.

Memory #2: My nanny, Ate Miming, was carrying me and we were outside the house near our small hut/rest house. My Dad was about to leave for work so my nanny rushed to the garage so my father can say goodbye to me and all. She was saying something like, "Aboojoo aboojoo, hingi ka aboojoo! (Aboojoo, aboojoo, ask for aboojoo!)" So when we got to the garage, my Dad was smiling and I held out my hand and said, "Aboojoo jaji." He then gave me that old, six-sided, two-peso coin with the coconut tree on it… Yes, "aboojoo" meant money. XD

Memory #3: Another memory with my Kuya in it. For this one I think I'm already about three or four years old. It was in the playground of our old school in Dagupan. There was a metal climbing frame. We sat about five steps up and he held me as we posed for a picture. I think it was our Mom who took it, but I'm not too sure anymore. That part's blurry.

Memory #4: I'm sure I was four years old this time because it was the night before my first day of school. We were inside our parents' room and everything was kinda dark-yellowish. It was either the globe-like lamp was turned on or there was a power outage and only a candle was lit. Everybody was laying down and my father was teasing me and said, "School Bukol ka na, Nanin!" (Okay, I need to explain a couple of things here: School Bukol was an old Filipino TV show and within our home, they used to call me "Nanin" until it evolved to "Nanen" years later.)

I think that's it. Whew!