Remembering

I was purchasing some songs from iTunes and came across Air Supply: Greatest Hits. I couldn't resist it. I had to listen to some songs. Immediately, a thousand memories and emotions came back to me. It's funny how a song could bring back so many memories associated with it. It honestly caught me by surprise.

I remember summers spent in our tiny living room, front door open, wind blowing in and the scent of trees... i remember the sound of the fan, song playing on the radio, and everything was just quiet..peaceful. Between 1 and 4 pm in the Philippines, everyone seems to disappear and everything is still.. except for the slight bustling of leaves. People at home are asleep... siesta. My nanny would ask me to sleep... "afternoon nap.. good for you.. go lie down now.." I would always beg.. beg to be allowed to stay up and play. I'd either be given an extra half an hour to play or I had to go lie down. Nap time was never negotiable. It was always mandatory. You'd think after all those afternoon naps and the amount of milk I drank back then, I would have grown a bit, gotten a little taller atleast, but no. I think I barely stretched.

There's something about growing up in one place. You tend to fall in-love with it..the place, the people, the little things that surround you... the garden where I spent so many afternoons playing hide and seek, the big tree in the front yard with bright, yellow green leaves, the may flowers (we didn't know what they were called but we called them May flowers since they always bloomed in May when the first rain started to fall.. then they would lie dormant the rest of the year), the shrubs beside the house that had sap that made you itchy, the gates surrounding the house which we had painted white one afternoon, the rooftop where JR and I were only allowed to sit on once in our entire life... so many other little things that are just forever etched in our hearts and minds.

I will always miss the place where I grew up.