Sometimes life can be tough.
It was hard to forget someone who truly loves and inspires you even if you're in great hardship.
I remember those days every time I think about her; it's almost a year after her death but the memories are still fresh in my head.
My name is Markus Dela Cruz. I turned in elementary when my parents got separated. My mother worked abroad until I heard that she got her own family and my father is dead. I was left with the care of my uncle and aunt. My uncle worked in the carwash and my aunt is a launderer. Life gets tough as I stepped up in another grade.
I reminisce about my elementary days
We are about to move to a remote school where the educational system was very strict and hard. I experienced a combination class because of the small population of enrolment. I was in grade one back then and we are about 12 pupils combined with grade 2 pupils. It was hard for me to study because I was distracted and I wonder how the teacher himself taught the pupils how to read and write simultaneously without focusing on the differences between the ages and the level of learning. He is amazing and I'm so delighted with his affection to care for the pupils. He did his job as a public servant and I categorize him as a hero and as a big brother.
Somehow I finished grade one with a good result. I learned how to hold a pencil properly in writing. I can read the CVC patterns and sentences with correct pronunciation and I got flexible and strong muscles because of different games like hide-and-seek, piko, sipang bola
kickball
, and I felt equality among the kids. The simple celebration of happiness where we saw the clouds painted in a blue pattern of brightness, the innocence of early life of childhood. I have a lot of friends but nothing is permanent, things changed. My surrogate parents which I called Mamay
Mother
and Papay
father
planned to move to the town for the business of the car wash for a better opportunity.
I turned in grade two in public school and it was different from the barrio.
Public schools in the nearby town became the melting pot of youth. A mixture of different chemicals and the division of wealth. I got a lot of classmates coming from popular and respected families and half of the others belong to poor families, low profile, etc. I have a tender and some bullies classmates and I use to stay away from them. All of them, I prefer to be alone without someone to confide with. Even my Mamay and Papay. I used to hate them sometimes especially on my birthday. I don't have any cakes and gifts like the other children got when they have a birthday. My parents used to cook pancakes and hard-boiled eggs like it's always breakfast time.
They said it's more nutritious than cakes and other sweet foods only to cover up excuses that they cannot afford to buy cakes because it's expensive. I hate them usually in myself for being poor. My classmates always teased me when they saw from my lunchbox the typical tuyo
dried salty fish
with a lot of tomatoes. I felt terrible shamed but I don't have many options so I went to the comfort room during lunch break and lock the door then I managed to eat my lunch sitting in the toilet bowl ignoring some foul odors and as my tears ran down in my cheeks I swallowed hard my pride to hide my disappointment in my life.
Years went by and I survive my pity situation.
I was in grade three when I met a lousy but funny kid named Anthony V. Salazar but I prefer his nickname Ton-Ton. He is a tall and smiling face he usually makes jokes full of energy but I saw the intelligence in his face especially when he reached the top 5 honors of the class. I was a typical taciturn and boring kid at the time and I didn't believe that I will change but somehow I met another person.
She is a transfer pupil from Manila.
Her name was Maria Bianca Cabrera Alonzo a name that sounds like the high-class rich mestiza in the period of the Spanish Regime. She's different from the others even though she belongs to a wealthy family of dressmakers and businessmen.
From the first two weeks, she managed to have many friends in our class but she prefers to join men and Ton-Ton especially Jn science garden and group activities. We hang out with her in their house and her family was kind-hearted with such a warm welcome. She is the second child of four siblings.
Every time we worked together and play with toys she prepared to cook some cookies from her oven so in exchange for her kindness I helped her together with Ton-Ton to clean the house. We are always together like we are some kind of best friends. Somewhat the other pupils felt jealous of the kind of friendship we had.
Maria taught me how to since and dance, she encourages me to join in some extra-curricular activities, played ukulele and guitar especially piano while singing our favorite song "You are my Sunshine" by Gene Autry.
She washes away my negativity and gave me a new sense of direction towards my relationship with my surrogate parents when she visited my house several days ago.
I was delighted when she gave me a round-shaped cake on my birthday and to my surprise, she chooses to eat the pancake and hard-boiled eggs rather than the cake.
"It is the most delicious food I've ever tasted." She said while smiling.
"What? Are you serious?" I thought she was kidding. There's no special taste of those ordinary foods.
"These pancakes and hard-boiled eggs are delicious because it was made of the right amount of love of your parents. There are no expensive things that can buy happiness but the love of parents.
Mamay and Papay got emotional about what they have heard. I felt a little hurt and guilty from that day I realized the hardship of them just to sustain my needs and pursue my studies so when Christmas arrived. I got my first gift from them, it was not a robot or expensive toys but a set of notebooks, pad paper, and pencils. I left teary-eyed as I hug them so tightly. I felt the love that was stolen from my heart by the biological parents. I remorse and cursed my selfishness from those years I've created walls and never seen their efforts for me.
I picked my two gifts for them I earned my allowance just to buy Mamay a new dusted and towel for my Papay. We celebrated Christmas with simple preparation. Mamay cooked kalamay
sweet delicacy
and Pansit Bihon and Papay prepared Suman
rice cake
and juices.