When my youngest sister visited us last year, I asked her to bring me some family photo albums so I can start digitizing our photos before they succumb to inevitable decay and fading. Thanks to the efforts of our parents, most of our early photos were still intact, and so we all have a pretty good collection of photos taken during our growing up years. As far as I could remember, we didn’t own a camera until I entered high school – but somehow we managed to borrow from friends and relatives just so we can take pictures.

Tres marias v.1982

I found this picture of us three girls taken at our first “house” in Navotas, sometime in 1982. No, that house did not belong to us, we were merely squatting there. 🙂 That photo brought back a lot of good memories. Heck, seeing that green sofa makes me so nostalgic all of a sudden. I remember crying my heart out when my Dad passed out on that sofa after some drinking binge. When I tried to wake him up, he didn’t stir, so I thought he died. I was probably 5 or 6 then. He used to drink a lot when we were young, but finally called it quits on alcohol when he started getting heartburns and chest pains. He posted a message on our refrigerator: “As for me and my house, no more BEER.” And so it was for the years that followed.

But I digress. Anyway, when we were in Pinas last April, my sister Karen suggested that we have our photo taken at a studio and give it to our mother as a birthday present. This is probably the most recent photo of us now, with four more additions: husbands and daughters. Needless to say, my mom loved it.

Tres marias v. 2005