Where it all boils down

Nature literally ate thru my memories.

Our house have always had the problem of termites to deal with. For one, they love to make houses from the ridges of our walls and two, they eat anything (of course) in their midst made out of wood.

So we made adjustments as called for and transformed storage areas into compartments of glass, pyro-glass, and even ended up making our interior look stylishly modern.

My custom-made closet, which was used to be made out of wood became steel & glass with a touch of mirrors. I had the liberty of having a shelf made out of glass, and has now served a great purpose in my room.

However, our second floor is still made out of narra, and as we still prefer to keep our narra despite natural crises (there was a time it flooded in our second floor thru the terrace, and the narra broke up along the edges, so we had to get used to the uneven floor then on) I find myself still battling it out with the ambitious termites.

They went under and up in my supposedly invincible shelf, however do not fret, no, thank God, they did not eat my books, unfortunately, they ate my 'time capsules', boxes made out of italian paper filled with cards and papers from long-ago memories that I so wished to preserve.

Out of a bundle, only four items survived:

A small Christmas card from my best friend.

A singing competition ticket where I supported friends, not to mention a crush (I leave notes at the back of receipts and some tickets).

Another Christmas card from the people I work with at Church.

Yet another Christmas card from my mentor at the university.

A Valentine's card from my dear parents.

And lastly, an invitation card, the 'prototype', I spared for myself from my 18th birthday, my debut.

It gave me the chills when all the cards that had something to do with the Holy Family were competely preserved. Scratches here and there, but it's still crisp and clean over-all. I can run my finger on the paper's matte surface and it felt as if it was just bought.

These items remained intact.

But what they stand for is what baffled me the most.

They were the people I trusted. Loved. And cared for.

They represented my family, my friends, my womanhood, and most of all, my faith.

It all boils down to the essentials.

Even if everything else are taken away,

the most important things stay.

Today, I was reminded of that. Though in an unusual form, a reminder still.