27 Years and Counting

My most cherished and extraordinary childhood days were spent mostly with these two amazing girls.

:-)

Growing Up

(a chunk of tita pretty and rafael's conversation today.)


Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
hello there
hi

Rafael Padua
hi

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
still up?
wheres hannah
what are you doing

Rafael Padua
hannah is in the room watching

.....

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
tell hannah i said kamusta

Rafael Padua
okay
and thank you (for the package)

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
have you seen Kung Fu Panda already?

Rafael Padua
not yet

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
watch it! very nice :-)

Rafael Padua
yah i will
i heard its nice

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
by the way, were you able to form the wooden puzzle?
hehe :-) challenging, huh? :-)

Rafael Padua
yes i was able to fix it
it took awhile

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
wow! really? did all the pieces fit exactly together inside the square board?
amazing!

Rafael Padua
yah

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
you'll get another reward from tita pretty for completing it!!! :-)

Rafael Padua
YAY!!!

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
hmm...ill tell you about it next time. by the way, how's school?
are you now preparing for the state test?

Rafael Padua
um...

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
AP TEST, right?

Rafael Padua
yah its good
thts for highschool
3 more weeks of school
and then im going to highschool
freshmen

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
wow! are you excited or what?
it will be a totally different world.
more challenges. more learning

Rafael Padua
yup

Tita Pretty Ni Hannah
zo, i want you to know that tita pretty will always be here for you and hannah. you may tell me anything, as in anything about school, your life, crushes, anything. even if we are miles away from each other, know that you and hannah are always in my heart and prayers. E-MAIL ME ANYTIME!
is that cool?

Rafael Padua
cool:-)
thxs tita pretty
love u



Photo by Kuya Ron :-)

JM and KG Walkabout with Ninang Pretty :-)

"Ninang Pretty, ito yung pinakamasayang bakasyon ko!"
- KG

Frisbee, Rafting and Lunch By the Falls :-)

"learning the art of letting go."

Teach. Inspire :-)

Musmos

walang araw na di ko naaalala ang nanay, inang at tatang ko.

sa kwento ng kanilang buhay at pangaral natutunan ko

ang maraming bagay.

saya.

lumbay.

kung paano maging payak.

kung paano magbigay at maghintay.

sa lilim ng kanilang karunungan

natuto akong tumangan.

dalisay ang kanilang puso

na ang tanging hangad lamang ay

ang makapagdulot ng sigla

sa aking musmos at nangungulilang mga mata.

:-)

Up to this day, I can still vividly recall how our moments together were like.
Small talks. Big laughter. Tatang’s hilarity was incredible. Afternoon coffee.
More talks. More laughter. More coffee.

"Uncommon thoughts on common things"

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN by Robert Fulghum
(excerpt from the book)

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Fighter in the Wind

Sublime.

:-)

"World of Color"

"At any given moment, no matter where you are, there are hundreds of things around you that are interesting and worth documenting."
--HOW TO BE AN EXPLORER OF THE WORLD by Keri Smith

Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—and What We Can Do About It

Tony Wagner's 7 SURVIVAL SKILLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurship
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination