I notice the ice cubes from my glass of soda melt due to the heat of the July's first while watching the latest Car Model being park near the window of our seat. We were in some fast food chain downtown when my Aunt Saaki in front of me talking to Aunt Aiye -who is sitting beside me- about the latest live concert in town in the next couple of days. Beside Aunt Saaki is my little cousin, shane, who is currently playing with the pasta in front of her, who Aunt Aiye obviously has forgotten about her table manners.
Well apparently my cousin likes to play. A lot. With things. And stuffs. Lots of stuffs with the most unlikely things and place. I brought the tissue paper to my cousin's face which is now splattered with red sauce and some white cheese that one might mistaken my cousin is blind for she keep missing the spoon to her mouth.
"Here baby, let me hold the fork." I said while taking the fork out of Shane's hand and dip it to the plate to get an amountful of pasta. I remember when she came to this world. It was one of a kind experience. She kind of pop out right after the amniotic fluid broke. She couldn't wait for Aunt Aiye to reach the hospital so we had no choice but to proceed with the labor inside the house.
Shane was munching the pasta I feed her when she point out her little finger in the air suddenly. My Aunts glanced at us and was quietly taken aback by shane reaction too. She kind of set out red sauces and white cheese particularly at everyone when she did her stunt.
"oh! Good gracious honey" my Aunt Aiye keep saying while she wipe some sauce off her face while Aunt Saaki was saying something cute and all about shane while she wipe out some cheese from her white coat which is by the way brand new. I look up what shes pointing at and realize she was referring to the telly where a man about in his early 50’s is standing to some platform prepared so high that the audience had to crane their neck so badly just to keep on looking to the speaker.
“ugh. I’m gonna speak to the prep committee about this.” I mentally noted to myself.
The man speaking was saying something about the possible changes and possible outcomes once he is elected as the new Governor. He hit a few more lines and each time he did, the crowd goes wild clapping their hands and obviously pleased with the candidate’s plan for the province. Andress Qi Cabario Ramos. The current Mayor of Canaw Province and now running for Governor in the coming election.
The candidate, who is now finished talking went back to his seat. Beside him is a woman in her late 40’s who was smiling as his husband comes back to her side. The woman said something about congratulating his husband for the well done speech while his husband smiled back at her and hold her had. They were wearing a “tsaleko”in green that pairs them up as a couple that says “Qi Ramos for changes” with the background of a white dove picture just above where their heart is. I smiled up to them seeing them still so in love even after 25 years has passed.
Shane was back at munching her pasta again while my Aunts continued talking when my phone buzz. It was a specific ringtone I set for some specific individuals. Either my Dad or my mom or my siblings.
“Anak, tapus na ang speech ng papa mo.” the text said. Samantha Anne Pasario Ramos. My mom who is now in Tantalun City, Canaw with my dad, Andress, I read my mom’s message to me. She’s really the updating one. I send back a reply saying I know as I saw it from the television. She again texted me asking if I was still coming home in the next few days and I said yes. I smiled again as I recall that I’ll be seeing them again after months of being stuck here for school. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t study somewhere so far from my family but apparently the degree I wanted to pursue wasn’t available back at my home city. There were a few schools who offers it back then but my older brother said, it would be better if I come to his school too so that someone can accompany him at the ‘lonely place’ according to him. I couldn’t disagree as he has a point. He’s studying Economics and in his doctoral degree by the way.
