family portrait

"The family is link to our past,
bridge to our future."
-- Alex Haley

kuya, 24 - a neat freak with good taste: he maintains the neatest bedroom in our house. all his things, most especially his cd's, are in order.

he is the one brother i looked up to as a child: i wanted to do the things he did. i wanted to play with his robots over my dolls. i wanted to go to school with him even if it was not yet my time. i escaped from the house too many times to play outside just like the way he did. i climbed over what-used-to-be our bamboo fence when i saw him how to do it without getting myself injured. i grew up playing with the boys, knew how to make my own slingshot (a.k.a tirador), ran like mad, boiled innocent frogs, flew my self-made kites, designed my own wooden gun, carved my own wooden boat, set up traps and the like simply because i tried to do whatever he did.

once, when i saw him running for home right after we got off a jeepney, i also ran after him. as a result, i almost got bumped by a speeding car coming from the other side. tsk. tsk. tsk. (i could still remember how i felt so shaken upon hearing the screeching of the tires, with the car stopping only an inch or two away from me. tsk. tsk. tsk indeed.)

i also remember how we used to challenge each other not to cry nor squirm every time we had our immunization shots: "no crying at the sight of needles, cry babies = losers."

sure, we grew up together... until he learned life too fast and i felt left behind. now, we may not be as close as we used to be, but the bond between us is still there. he's my brother and i'm the first of his younger sisters.

nikki, 12 - the youngest in the family and everyone's favorite family member. hehehe. in return, she looks up to everyone in the house and tries to do everything that her elders did or are doing. hehehe (times two). i don't need to say that she is pretty because it shows. she has the best eyelashes i have ever seen!!!

she has her moods - just like everyone in the family does - but she's a picture of sweetness. there's more to her than that though. she's a restless being like me, and a former tv addict, too! i recall that, when sex and the city was just starting, she would stay up late to watch the show. as a result, one of us had to stay up late, too, to keep watch. hahaha. in the mornings, she used to watch a marathon of ATBP, hiraya manawari, bayani, 5 and up, chikiting patrol, and all those educational kiddie morning shows on local tv. there were also times when she opted for HBO and discovery channel. now that we have no cable tv at home, i no longer know what she watches on tv. i only know that she's currently into anime.

she used to be a tiny baby... how she has grown!!!

vl, 17 - the other middle child, the other one being me. hehehe. being both middle children, we have a lot in common, but we always clash! she and nikki often treat me like i'm younger than them, but they only win over me when the two of them gang up, and not otherwise. she's the lady in the house: the one with poise, the one with the most refined social manners, and the one who can be trusted to take care of the "headquarters" with or without the visitors. when my parents go out, and only the three of us girls are left to keep watch in the house, my mama would often leave with this: "L (short for vl), look after the house ...and you two (vl and nikki), look after ateng (that's me!). make her eat; she might die." hahaha. i know. that makes me odd.

papa and mama, both 49 - my number one real-life heroes!!!