Writing 101, Day 4: My 10-peso coins were gone!

I had to delay my posts for Writing 101 because I got stuck on my Day 4 assignment. The instruction was to write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn’t any more.

I tried thinking about some important people in my life either a relative that has already passed away or a person that I had intimate relationship with in the past. But I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to go back to it. So I thought about something else.

I already wanted to write about this the day the fourth assignment was posted but I was hesitant because this is somewhat controversial. But I realized that the longer I delay this task, the more the assignments I have to make up on in the coming days. So I decided to finally share what I wanted to tell about this loss.

I used to be a coin collector. A 10-peso coin collector in particular. Why the 10-peso coin of all the other coins? It’s simply because I like its design. I like it having a two-colour (silver outer and gold inner) appearance.

I started doing this since I was studying in college. That was almost 10 years ago. But I didn’t get to collect much during college because I had very limited allowance. I was able to collect more when I was already earning. I didn’t change my paper bills to 10-peso coins. I just kept those that are left in my coin purse from my allowance, either a change from fare or from anything that I purchased.

I used to keep it in a small piggy bank made of cardboard. It was in the apartment where I used to live when I was still single. Then I transferred the coins to a bigger one when it was almost full and that was when I moved to my husband’s house. I usually counted it during Christmas. I felt happy like a child who’s been saving coins to buy a new toy or doll come Christmas. But when I moved in, I counted it just to check how much I had kept so far.

It wasn’t a big amount. But I didn’t care about how much it was. I was more concerned on how many pieces of coins I already have. In fact I had no plan of using them neither to buy something nor transfer them to the bank. I collect and keep them just for one reason. And that is, to give them as a gift or remembrance to my children, who will then give those coins to their future children and grandchildren and so on. That was my sole purpose.

I knew and I was aware of the “Anti-Hoarding of Philippine Legal Tender Coins Act of 2013”. I first heard about it late last year when they were still proposing for it. And actually this was the reason why I mentioned earlier in this article that I was hesitant to post this. Okay, forgive me. I didn’t mean to hoard these coins. But I’ve been collecting these even before you passed that bill!

I felt bad when I first learned about that bill. I didn’t understand why they have to run after these poor citizens who are keeping some of these little coins for personal reasons. Like for me, I didn’t plan to use it for something illegal. But with this bill, it’s just like telling me that I’m already doing something illegal because I’m collecting and keeping these coins. Why don’t they just focus on hunting those rich citizens who are involved in the graft and corruption activities just like that controversial pork barrel scam?!

Sorry, I got carried away with my emotions. Actually I’m not really talking about this new bill or act or law. I’m not familiar with these terms so I’m not sure how to call it. But this is not the issue.

The real thing is, I lost my most kept 10-peso coins. They were stolen!

I didn’t know when it was stolen but I found out that it was gone when I lifted the piggy bank using one hand and I realized that it shouldn’t be lifted that easily. I normally used two hands with force when I had to lift it because the coins were heavy.

And it made me extremely depressed upon knowing that my coins were gone.

Those coins were valuable to me. You already knew why. And I won’t even trade it for higher amount of bills.

Now the big question is, “Who stole it?”

We’re still trying to find out who did it. We have suspects but we don’t have enough evidence that’s why we don’t want to point our fingers on anybody just yet. But it’s definitely someone in the house.

And maybe that’s something that we’ll all find out in the next series.

Writing 101, Day 3: Three of my favorites songs

I’m really poor when it comes to titles of the songs. But I love listening to music. I also love singing even if I can’t sing well.

For today’s assignment, I’ll share three of my favorite songs.

The first one is entitled “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan”. In english, “In the cradle’s rocking”. It’s a Filipino lullabye that has been recorded by various artists including Lea Salonga and Regine Velasquez, two of the most popular singers in the Philippines.

I like this song because it’s dedicated to our dearest mothers and how much they love and care for us. Whenever I hear this song, it reminds me of how my mom sacrificed for me from the day I was born to my early childhood years when she had to sing lullabies to put me to sleep.

Now that I’m already a mom too, I can totally relate and understand how much moms love their children and how willing we are to do everything just to give the best for them. I love my mom so much and my love for her became even stronger the moment I gave birth to my first child. She inspires me to do the same for my daughter. I even sing the same lullabies for her when I put her to sleep.

I’m trying to remember the title of my second favorite song but my memory isn’t functioning well right now. I even tried googling some part of the lyrics that says something like “we will meet again in some other place, the vision is here for some happiness…” I don’t know if it’s right but that’s what I remember as I sing it.

Well, this was our graduation song back in high school. I remembered how much I cried while we were singing it. I felt so sad because after being together for four years in school, we were going to part ways already and I would truly miss my friends. It was like separation anxiety for me.

My college days were not as fun and memorable as my high school. But the good thing is, even if we didn’t go to the same school in college, we still get to hang out at times. In fact even now that most of us are already married and have kids, we still get to see each other when there’s some events and celebrations.

The third song is “Marry your daughter” by Brian McNight. I always get teary-eyed when I hear this song. It reminds me of how my then boyfriend (now my husband) asked my parent’s permission to marry me. I felt like I was the princess in a fairy tale and the prince was asking me to marry him. And of course I said YES!

We got married in a simple civil wedding celebration. Just like any other woman’s dream, I also wished we had our church wedding. But I’m not losing hope. Even if we’re already parents to our now 7-month old daughter, I still keep on dreaming. I hope that someday, we will have our church wedding too. And I want this song to be sung as I walk on the aisle. Ah, I’m getting teary-eyed again!

Writing 101, Day 2: Transporting back to the past

I have always dreamt to be a writer since I was little. I want to express my thoughts and my ideas. I want to share my experiences. I want to help others through my writings. But I always hesitate to do so because I’m not confident that I can write well. I’m not good in writing. I like to write but writing doesn’t seem to like me. That is why I enrolled in this Writing 101 challenge hoping to improve my writing skills and learn from the experts and the other participants.

Last night, I got overly excited to post my first assignment for Writing 101 that I accidentally hit the wrong button and everything that I’ve written just disappeared. Yes, everything was lost and I tried every possible way to retrieve it but none of them worked. It broke my heart and it made me cry the whole night. I almost felt discouraged to continue this Writing 101 challenge but thanks God I’m back and I’m writing for Day 2.

Today’s assignment is about choosing a place where I’d like to be transported to if I could and I have to tell the backstory. Hmmm , this sounds interesting but as I was reading the instructions, I couldn’t think of a place where I want to be right this moment.

Then I remember one of my recent pictures in the beach which reminded me of my happy childhood years and now it’s slowly transporting my imagination back to the past…

 

I grew up in a place which is a few meters away from the seashore and a few minutes boat ride to the nearby islands. When I was little, my friends and I would often go to the seashore to swim and play. Just as the sun starts to show up in the morning, I already anticipate that my friends would come knock our door and ask my parents to allow me to join them to go swimming and playing in the seashore during the weekends. And most of the time, they would say yes. And there go the happy kids!

We start playing in the morning when it’s high tide and we go home at noon time or in the afternoon when it’s already low tide. That’s how much we enjoyed staying in the waters. Then we go home shaking because we stayed too long in the water and shaking because we’re scared to see our parents who are waiting for us on our doorsteps holding coconut broom sticks ready to punish us for coming home late.

I couldn’t help but laugh whenever I recall those days. I didn’t learn how to swim when I was a kid or even until now but I really have fond memories in the waters.

I wonder if I could post this picture, but I’ll share it anyway.

playing like kids

This picture was taken two weeks ago during our vacation in Samar, a province in the Philippines. If you noticed, I looked happy on this picture. Yes I was. I was enjoying the water while playing with my cousins. I felt like I was a kid again. I love the small waves. I love the sand. I love this place.

When I graduated high school, I decided to continue my college education in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. Ten years passed and I already finished college, got a job, got married, and now I’m a mom to an adorable 7-month old baby girl. A lot of things have changed. When I was still staying in the province, I always wanted to go to the city. And now that I’m already in the city, I always want to go back to the province.

Some say that “there’s no place like home.” And I couldn’t agree more. I miss the seashore, I miss the sand, I miss my childhood friends, I miss home.

And through this writing, I just felt like I was home…

#writing101_day2, #childhood, #happy-childhood, #home, #kids, #philippines, #playing, #samar, #seashore, #swimming, #writing-101

I screwed up on Day 1!

I was extremely excited and feeling fulfilled after finishing my first assignment for Writing 101. One click away and it should be posted.

I even ended it saying, “This is it for Day 1, I’m 19 days closer to my dream…”

 

I didn’t know what happened. One minute I was happy, next minute I was crying because I lost everything that I’ve written in the past 30 minutes.

I screwed up on my first day in Writing 101. I feel extremely sad right now and I don’t know what to do…

 

I’ll try to pick myself up and start over on Day 2…

 

#files-lost, #frustrated, #writer, #writing-101, #writing-dream