four boxes

It must be the wine or the 'question' yesterday, or the fact that my 25th is just around the corner. But I find myself reaching for those four boxes up in my closet.

These four boxes are loaded with letters, print-outs of poems and blog entries, chocolate wrappers, journals, and all other sentimental stuff.

The oldest one is the shoe box covered by a pink floral cottony material. Forgive me, I think I was only 9 or 10 when I made it. It houses loads of snail mail letters (back when the internet was not yet popular here in the Philippines) – in yellow paper, bond paper, and scented stationeries. The first ever letter was from my cousin who was living in Zambales, I believe it was one of her school projects. I replied and it was the start of almost 6 years of writing to each other. This box also houses letters and cards from childhood friends in Zambales and that one cute little address book from a former admirer (he is now one of my close guy friends). It also used to house several love letters from a childhood sweetheart. Let’s just say I was too immature back then so I threw them all away. I should have kept them. haha It is also home to 3 diaries – stories of grade school and high school crushes and everyday encounters with them, school grades, and a few family issues. I was a very passionate and really emotional young girl. I find myself laughing while reading details of those daily encounters.haha

The second one is the box of my first cellular phone with my signature and a heart beside it. I was 13. This box houses birthday cards and letters from high school and college friends, invitations to debuts, and a few snail mail letters from a superfriend who migrated to Australia. It is also home to my UP Diliman Freshman Survival Kit, dorm and org primers. Even thank you notes from college classmates, now I remember the name of my Art Studies 2 crush. :D

The third one is a Nokia 2100 cellular phone box. It houses photos with high school and college friends. Most of which are photos from ROTC days and Kalayaan Dormitory days.

The fourth one is my Nikon D40 box. Only a few notes and letters are here and 2 chocolate wrappers. Most are blog entry print-outs from my own blog, from friends', and from random great writers' and bloggers'. Most are write-ups and articles on life and love. My 2 favorite items in this box are (1) a sketch done by a friend of our table in a Starbucks coffee shop, and (2) a bond-paper-folded-into-two birthday card with a stick drawing of a girl and a boy holding balloons as its cover. It also houses 2 journals, journals that are addressed to Him. It is also home to three non-acceptance letters and email print-outs from graduate schools; flight print-outs, boarding passes, and receipts from domestic and international travels. This box is quite heavy, literally and figuratively. This box has been a house to my happy, angry, and sad emotions and memories. But it’s my favorite out of the four boxes, it’s the most personal.

It’s not a box, but it was also up there – the wonderful scrapbook made by my MIB friends. Their effort to print the photos, design it, and get messages from everyone was just too heart-warming. :)

These boxes remind me of how great and exciting life has been for the past 15 years. They bring me back to those happy, sad, and sometimes even pathetic days. But looking at them four together tells me that it has been great. Really really great. :)

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Here's to my fifth (online) box. welcome to my new blog. :)

thanks, maya. ;)

my old blog: http://doublevanillalatte.blogdrive.com/