secrets, God, and me

1. I used to play with bows and arrows a lot. I usually aimed at the horses on the picture frames hanging on our living room walls.

2. Darius (my brother) and I would pretend that we're skydiving, we'd jump down from the top of our bunk beds with blankets tied on our wrists and legs, thinking that they'd slow our free fall from a height of approximately 1.8 meters. Haha. One time, I was going solo, and my blanket got caught on one of the bed posts. I ended up hanging upside-down, batwoman style :p

3. TV has a lot of influence on me. I used to see little girls carrying soft toys around, and I thought that's how I should be, too. So even though I really enjoyed playing with my brother's cars, I thought it was proper of me to go around hugging soft toys. My mom bought me a Minnie Mouse soft toy. I went around carrying it with me for two weeks, I guess, until I got tired of it.

4. Until somebody from ACJC pointed it out, I didn't think I was susceptible to being influenced by media violence. After watching "Home Alone", I decided to set traps in our house. They were all harmless, anyway, like water dropping on someone who just opened the door. But I did fancy setting up my brothers' toy cars on the steps of our stairs. (Don't tell my mom :P)

5. I started reading encyclopedias when I was about seven, I think. It's those children's encyclopedias. I guess I misread the part regarding the concept on using two cans and a stretched rope as a 'telephone'. I planned to make my own 'telephone' and I planned to use it to talk to someone a few houses away. So I used two yakult bottles, and a very long string forgetting the part that the rope must be taut. Oh, well, I doubt if the yakult bottles would have worked, anyway.

6. I tried to learn how to use the slingshot with my cousins. In some weird or funny way, I accidentally hit the bald head of my cousin who was just beside me with the stone. I thought it was funny.

7. There was also this bamboo-based projectile launcher we called 'palsuot' in Pangasinan. Basically, my older cousins would cut for me a bamboo stick (?), clear of the midder part so that we'd be left with a tube with a hole in the center with a diameter much much lesser that the outer diameter. Then, we'll use wet paper as 'bullets'. Let me tell you something gross. There were times that we'd just run around with paper if we can't get water to wet it, we'd use our own saliva. (EEWWW. Gross).

8. Kuya Mon and I would try our hand at pottery almost every morning. We would use the soil right in front of our house in Bantocaling, try to mould something with it, leave it to dry, and get back to it after our afternoon nap. The idea of playing with mud was re-invented during Darius', Ryan's, Edward's, and Vergel's time. They would go on to be called putik boys (mud boys), as they would pour water in our front yard making it muddy, and slide down until they are all covered with mud. Haha.

9. We used to play hide-and-seek a lot during the nights when there was an electric power cut off in the Philippines. I remember one time, we couldn't find Ate Ne. She was hiding near the drainage with only her head showing. We would not have found her had it not been for the car that drove past. The lights shone on her and it was really a funny sight.

10. I watched Sailormoon a lot last time and I really wished I could transform into one. So much so that I eagerly waited for my 14th birthday, telling myself that I'd start looking for a cat with a moon-shaped scar on its forehead. Maybe, it would make me a superheroine.

11. I remember the cashew seed roasting sessions with my cousins and brothers. We would gather around, build a fire, and cook the cashew seeds. Sometimes, it would end up burnt, sometimes, it wouldn't be cooked at all. But I know that's one of those times when I learned the value of sharing and equality. We'd all end up with about three or four roasted seeds each. Haha. One of the fruits of our labor, the others included a very strong camaraderie :)

12. We would bathe at a stream (carayan) back in Bantocaling. I hope it was further down the stream, but we did share the stream with cows and carabaos.

13. All of us would go to Pacalat, a river, for a summer swim (more appropriately, a summer frolicking in a body of water). I remember that Edward, who was very scared of the deep, would wear the goggles, dip his head into the water, remove the goggles and he would leave them to dry under the sun. All of us couldn't use it coz he was adamant that it should be really dry before he can use it. :)

14. I was so angry with my Ninang last time that I locked myself up in my parents' room. I was planning to lock myself up for a few days, I even took my clothes from the other room in preparation for my lock up. I'm not even sure if I lasted for an hour.

15. I had an imaginary friend named 'Dodi'. He was supposed to be an elf. And as I said, I think he's really just that, an imaginary friend.

This is as far as I can remember. Haha. Maybe, I'd have a part two when I remember them.

Dearest Lord,

 

I pray for purity of mind, body, soul and heart. Keep me from defilement. Defend me from the temptations of the evil one.

 

I pray for patience. That I would wait for my Prince to find me.

 

I pray that I will be granted the grace to be able to live out the essence of womanhood. That I can reflect to the world Your design of femininity.

 

I pray Lord, that You will cleanse my heart. Not only from its evil or wrongful desires, but also from the love whose time may have yet to come. Purify it, so that if I may be bold enough to ask, it can be kept as one of the treasures in heaven - a gem that can be given as a reward to the man worthy of it, who searched for it, who longed for it, who prayed for it.

 

This I ask in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

 

Amen