family + the old house

{from L to R: Ninong Tony, Ninang Beth, Mama, Tita Ethel, Tita Del}*

tita ethel had tagged me in a pic, and when i scrolled over the other pics in the album, i couldn't help but smile when i chanced upon this picture of my mom with her siblings + sister-in-law. these were the good old days, when everyone in my family got along swimmingly well and when we stayed in the old house which i truly loved.

i don't even remember when this picture was taken (although i remember mama's shirt. i think it was one of her favorites!) but i'm amazed at how young, thin, and pretty my mom was (she still is, by the way!). she couldn't be older than i am now in this snapshot, and i'm wondering whether or not the person i am today would be friends with the young mother in this picture. probably not -- my mom and i, we're just too different.

that said, while i couldn't be any more dissimilar to my mom, i'd like to think i am my mother's daughter in a million of ways. i may not be rich but i'd like to think my finances are in order. i have an inordinate love for footwear (something my mom did nothing to curb, being a shoe lover herself) and have begun to appreciate beautiful things at home. and though i got accepted at both UP and ateneo, i decided to be an iskolar ng bayan to continue the legacy that my grandmother and my mom started. let's not forget my legs: my legs are my mom's (oh, how i wish i could've inherited legs from my dad's side of the family!).

i miss our old house. it was the house that i grew up in, and while i've lived in this house longer, i can't help but think of that one as home, and this one as the "new" house. maybe cause i had wonderful memories there -- memories of my 7th grade graduation party, my joint birthday party with kit, pretending to be bea lucero while hanging from the macopa tree, and my DIY swing made from rope and a rice sack. i can still remember how the house painters made my room caladryl pink (my peg was one of my favorite clips, and while it was cute at that size, multiplied a million times over, it was scary enough to make my dad comment on it every time he entered my room) and how i hated the white curtains that i inherited from my mom (my old room used to be the master's bedroom). save for the times my mom and i passed by the old house when we first moved here, i've never been back, and i haven't thought of going back. i still know how to get there but to actually try going, nope, not in the 9 years i've been driving.

maybe families + old homes are like that -- they're good in your mind, but are a bit tricky in real life.

*pic was downloaded from tita ethel's FB album.