Nov 04 2008
Antie Raquel
The youngest of the seven sisters, Antie Rachel sometimes treat us like we’re same age. She likes gardening and her house is full of euphorbia. When I was small I used to frequent her house to play with my cousins. One day she told me they were moving to Pangasinan. I heard it was very far and they had to ride on a big ship. That was the most unwelcomed news I had ever heard. That means my cousin, Neng, her eldest daughter would be too for me to visit and I was going to miss her very badly. To defy my disappointment and frustration, I pretended I was angry with her. Several days before they left I would still come and see Neng but only to bitch her. I didn’t want them to go and I didn’t know how to deal with the sorrow I felt inside. To tell them otherwise was a sign of weakness and and it means I was a loser. No, I must show them I was allright. I was only three or four then. Antie Raquel was getting fed up with me because of the sudden change of my attitude.
Anyway, a few years later I got to visit them in the Pangasinan and I was so much excited I couldn’t contain the joy inside me. A year later Antie Raquel and her family came back to Palawan and they temporarily stayed at our house. Imagine my excitement? My cousins that I have missed so much are actually staying with us.
Then I went to high school. One weekend I came home from school and didn’t fail to drop by Antie Raquel’s house. And she told me the most shocking news ever. But it’s too personal to mention here. Well, anyway, I remember one day she came to see us at our apartment in the academy where me and my cousins including two of her kids were attendig. She made us a food, string beans with soy sauce, and lemon and it was the best one I had ever tasted. Until now I can still recall how it tasted and sometimes I try to cook the same thing but not as good as Antie Raquel’s. She can cook well.
When I went to Palawan last time I was surprised to see my photos in Antie Raquel’s living room. I think she is proud of me. 
