Tuesday, December 7, 2010
My Free Time, Schooling, and Dreams...
People ask : Where have you been?
I answered : Working....
They ask again : Where...and what did you do....?
I replied : I became a writer and I taught college (math and logic circuits)...
Then they say (nodding) : Ah!
I get a lot of these lately: the nods, the questions, and of course the are-you-sure looks (as if I am not so sure of what I'm saying). It's been a while since I last entered the steps of my Alma Matter, and honestly--in as much as I am pleased to be back--I can't help but question other people's sincerity when they talk to me, or see me, walking along the corridors (and the surprise looks whenever I'd climb the stairs).
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Memory From The Past: Reposting Of My Last Article From My Aemilian Column UNSHACKLED
July 2010: Me and my friend Erika were
in the DJ’s booth waiting to go on air. As we did this we chatted in between
tips on entertaining our listeners’ messages and modulating voice. To help me
calm my nerves (I was a newbie on the booth), our topic shifted to my writing
job, our days as school paper staffer, and that one article she read back in
college that she liked very much…
Walking Home
I am, at last, home only to find myself waiting
outside our house for the rest of my family to arrive...
I came home pretty late today...
Earlier in Aemilianum, as my instructor called the
assigned reporter to start (class started at 3pm), my sister sent me a text
message informing me of the traffic building up at downtown. People have
gathered in the streets to watch the street dance – a part of the Sosogon
Festivities.
My class was only until 4pm. Since Prof. Ed. 9 is my only class during
weekdays, I usually come in fifteen minutes before class and leave immediately
after it. Today, however, due to the parade, I had to stay another hour in
school, hoping that by then traffic would be back to normal.
The "hour more" was spent wisely
conversing with Ms. Pacla regarding the novel I was working on (another story
to tell) and spending time with my dear girls from Jardin. By past 5 pm I
started out the doors of Aemilianum and luckily got a tricycle ride with the
driver suggesting to bring me straight to my destination instead of going to
downtown for the second ride home (downtown's traffic seems to be slow due to
the parade and the rain--which happened during that hour of wait i did).
I spent that hour wisely. I had a chance to talk with
Ms. Pacla regarding the novel I was working on; and also bond with my girls
from Jardin de Maria. By past 5pm I started to walk out the doors of my alma
matter and got lucky to get a tricycle ride which offered to bring me straight
to my destination (traffic was still slow at downtown).
The tricycle stopped at the end of the paved
road. From there I started walking my way towards home. I call it adventure.
There were more houses on the way compared to
when we first came here; just imagine how it was further ahead…where we built
our house. I finally came at the turn
where the gate to our compound is. This is the part where I needed to be extra
careful, not because it was rocky but because of the grass. They’ve already
grown after a month since they were last trimmed. But even then I still pray
that no snake would jump at me from nowhere. There were only a few steps and
our unfinished second floor was already within sight.
Between being careful with my steps, praying that
I won’t trip, and sweat forming on my forehead, the realization that no one might
be home yet hit me. We all did go out at the same time and surely traffic isn’t
going any faster in downtown. I don’t have the key to the door and there’s no
way I was going to walk back all that way especially since I just passed by the
area where they once found a snake. So I still went on. Just then a certain
scent filled the atmosphere.
I knew that scent well.
My mom’s perfume….
My mom was with me…
I know some may find it weird but I said hi. Ever since she died we always had
this feeling that she’s with us especially when that scent came strong. None of
us used that perfume. As an Ilocano tradition we sent it with her – a pabaon.
The scent faded as soon as I entered our gate. I
found the lights outside were on but (as expected) the windows closed.
Now I sit here…And between thoughts of wanting to
break the doors, planning to have my own set of keys, and wishing I had brought
with me a bottle of insect repellent, I write these lines:
I miss my mom!
I miss her everyday.....and God is good.....He allowed her to keep watch of us.....and He allowed us to have her as ourMother.....
God's kindness was shining on us....
He gave me that warning from my sister so as to
not get tied up in that messy traffic...
He gave me that extra time to talk to friends to
make my dream a reality...
And there was my mom...
Now my thoughts wandered off to my laptop inside
and my need to type what I just wrote in this scratch paper. But just like
TIME, CHANCES, and SERENDIPITY, all I can do is wait and hope that the next footsteps
I hear (the sound coming louder) are those of my loved ones with the key to the
door.....
Photo
by Gil Sages
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