An excerpt from A Reason For Being Fairbanks, Alaska 1994 In 1994, my youngest sister became ill with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain that could’ve been deadly. She had a mosquito bite on her ankle that she did not pay attention to nor bothered to tell me. My parents had separated at this time, and … Continue reading Sunflowers (an excerpt from A Reason For Being)
Binary There seems to be a misunderstanding when it comes to the notion of being in a relationship. I'm referring to having a significant other. You know one plus one equals two. The concept of binary centers on, according to its vocab, "relating to, using, or expressed in a system of numerical notation that has … Continue reading Binary
I remember that she came to visit our home. I've never seen anyone like her before. She was same height as I was, but the similarities ended there. She did not look like or any of my friends. We all had straight black hair (they teased me sometimes because mine was lighter than black--the … Continue reading Banana
The first elementary school I attended in the U.S. was Emerson Elementary School located in Oakland, California. My dad was stationed at Oakland Army Base for three years, and my family flew in from Cavite City, Philippines. Before Emerson elementary, I went to a regular public school, and before that a Catholic private school … Continue reading The Way to Dream..
Sunset on New Year’s Eve In life, there’s a tendency to always long for something. Many of us can’t decipher what that may be. Sometimes we long for a life free of sadness and despair. Some of us long for wealth through some kind of luck bestowed upon us. There are those of us … Continue reading Sunset on New Year’s Eve
A Letter On The Eve Of The 44th year My Dearest, I know that you would love to spend the day in bed wallowing in the simple truth that your 44th year is the last year of your early 40s. You are wondering how time is such an asshole for being a realistic and practical … Continue reading A Letter On The Eve Of The 44th year
I believe I have been reborn twice in my life. I was first born in Cavite, City Philippines in the 70s. I was reborn in Oakland, California in the 80s, and again in Fairbanks, Alaska in the 90s. Monique Truong wrote about her being reborn from a child born in Vietnam, to her childhood in … Continue reading Reborn.
The first time I wrote about my dad it was about the events that unfolded when he had a stroke. I wrote from my perspective as his eldest daughter coming into to his aid at a life altering moment in his life. I believe I will always have this perspective since this is my role in … Continue reading In Defense of Fatherhood
Author's note: This is an excerpt from Chapter Three of "A Reason For Being" and this excerpt centers on my Great Aunt Esther (my grandmother's eldest sister). I remember when I first met Lola Esther (as how I called her), I was quite young. After I met her that first time, all I saw of … Continue reading The Great Aunt/Grandmother (excerpt from “A Reason For Being”): Lola Esther
Nowhere. Somewhere begins nowhere. It is nowhere that we find ourselves asking where to go next? Where to go from here? Our lives depend on where we are at the exact moment in time and it is where we define ourselves. My nowhere is here. At a pinnacle in my life that I find often … Continue reading Beginning.
The Echo Muse 