Chrissaire

I almost forgot the last time I touched it from the ground. I know that was way back during my childhood days. Those days when all I looked forward to was the weekend that I spend in my grandparents’ house. The bondings that I shared with my cousins…the childhood illusions and innocent dreams. It was those times when afternoons seem to be so long to start, yet too short to end so soon after a nice time with good company.

There were those picnics by the ricefields. Four of us- my cousins, Ivy and Christianne, and myyounger sister Jacy. We were never empty-handed. One would bring a basket full of fairy tale books (Puss in boots, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.); another, our common craving (a cooked green banana made specially by our Grandmother), while the other two would bring a lotion in a big swan-shaped container, and a basket of “bangkiling”- pretending they were grapes. This afternoon rendezvous would always take place in a farmer’s abandoned hut or just beside a scarecrow by the fields as our final goal. In our walk approaching our destination, we would pass by these timid touch-me-nots. In its rather placid nature, it had become the sole witness of the four children’s illusions and dreams.

And now after so many years, I found one rooted on the ground. A child in me was relived. It is a feeling of being reunited with someone so special from the past. The circumstance is already different for me though. I am no longer in my grandparents’ backyard nor am I spending a weekend with my cousins. But this time, in one weekend I get to introduce it to my nieces- Noelle and Meikue. And just like the first time I saw it, the two kids were filled with awe. Like any child’s reaction, they ended up traipsing down the fields with bowed heads in search for more “touch-me-nots” or Makahiya. And as they did that, the weed continued to do its part- endlessly keeping the secrets to itself.

As I walked and left the kids behind, I grinned. We can never bring back the past, but we will always have memories to reminisce. But most of all, we have the power to vial the present to make it into a memorable past soon enough. Now, with these little girls comes their turn of sharing their memories with the weed. The talks down the fields that they will be sharing together…the tiny laughs in between innocent humors …the holding-hands…these will all be part of memories to keep- a lifetime secret that they will forever have with the touch-me-nots.

Tags: plants, touch me nots, vegetation

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 11th, 2007 at 9:21 am and is filed under Family, My Journey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.