Memories

How often do you see or hear something that brings back memories of your childhood? No doubt, the memories that you can think of are those that are soothing reminders of days gone by—a time when everything was simple and fun or perhaps something that made you who you are today.

“Good memories,” is perhaps the greatest gift a child could have. Without a useful and self-respecting past that gives them a sense of self-worth and a future worth anticipating, the child is missing a critical piece of the puzzle required for building a successful and happy life.

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My sister Menmen (read her blog) and I whenever we talk (which is always long), we always ends up talking and laughing with our childhood memories. It never fails to give us something to laugh at and something to treasure in the same way.

Few of the things we always remember:

• Fetching water (for drinking) even if it is rainy day because Dad doesn't drink water from the rain ( Funny thing, we keep on saying when we see Dad again we have to ask him why let us fetch water despite the mud and why did he not ever force himself to drink rain water)
• The games we play.... playhouse (made of tree branches, coconut leaves, banana leaves...etc), sliding from the top of the mountain using the coconut fronts, chinese garters, all those native games that uses indigenous materials.
• The household chores that we (the kids) always argue on whose turn it is to do such things
• Making sure to come home when the bell in the church rings at 6:00PM (Angelus time)
• Having to walk on tip-toe when Dad is sleeping
• The dawn masses, aurora (praying the rosary at dawn in the streets going to the church), flores de mayo (Flowers of May), all those catholic traditions that we are obliged to participate.
• Who couldn't remember the washing of clothes in the river, pounding rice, grilling corn manually, helping the ricefield.. (Thanks to technology... no more washing of clothes in the river as there is already water supply, rice and corn are milled, and dad is old and we don't allow him to till the land anymore).
• The hardships we have to endure to finish our schooling.... Mom's hardwork to make sure we all can finish school... Dad's strict yet supporting ways....
  

There are so many memories that has been instilled in our minds that somehow we think, how did we ever do it! Those memories are part of how we were mold. Those helped us to always remember that wherever we are we always have a family back home. I think of all the things we experienced when we were young, I could say that, I am always grateful that Mom and Dad instilled in our minds the value of family, sharing, faith, and hope.

What did you remember most when you were young? Share your childhood memories here.