Give the Day a Chance to Start

Saturday, May 28, 2005

This used to be my playground.

This was our street. It was here that I strolled with my friends, ran around with my cousins, drove out and back home with my parents, went jogging with Ate, first learned how to bike, played wala lang badminton and volleyball, etc. etc. etc.

My trip down memory lane today put me in a really blissful and sentimental mood, but it didn't last. Sure, I had fun swimming at the country club and walking down the quiet streets of the subdivision, but when I saw the dismal state in which our house was, my spirits sank to an all-time low.

After having lived down south for sixteen years of my life, my family and I moved here up north two years ago, leaving behind a treasure chest full of memories in the process. Our house down south was small, simple, and cozy. It was where I grew up. It was the only home I'd ever known. There I went through a myriad of experiences that make me who I am today. So, our visit today should have made me happy, but instead, it left me utterly depressed. Why you ask? Well, it's because our tenants who lived there these past two years didn't exactly take care of it. They moved out, leaving it totally dilapidated. Two years and the structure I used to call home doesn't even look much like a house now. It looks as if it suffered the wear and tear of two decades! Unbelievable.

I guess I can't blame those people. A majority of the time, they left the house to the maids (who didn't really care about the house's upkeep in the first place), and to make things worse, they had kids... you know, the kind that liked to draw on walls. Still, I can't help being a little angry. THAT WAS MY HOME! My lolo worked his butt off to have that built, and my dad invested a lot of time and money just to keep it in tip top shape when we still lived there. The fact that they didn't even as much as reimburse Papa for all the damages says a lot about how much (or little) respect they have for us.

It's these things that make me feel all the more jaded. Bleh...