I'll be leaving for the airport soon—after more than two weeks in Toronto—to go back to Manila. To go back home.
It's been a while since I last read the Youngblood column and it seems quite serendipitous that the article for today is "My balikbayan box" by Robertino Lim (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 18 June 2005)... and that tomorrow is Father's Day. Lim writes:
I felt like I was walking into the past, into my father's youth. I saw a chair, a photograph and each room, and I pictured it as it was decades ago, as my dad knew it. I thought of all the memories here, the ties my father had to this place.I am not, in fact, going to be a real balikbayan, but I do have a balikbayan box. And I guess it could be said that we all bring our own "baggage" wherever we go.
It will probably be a while before I am able to post like I used to. It is Saturday morning as I write this. I will be arriving close to midnight on Sunday and am planning to go to work first thing Monday morning (wish me luck!).
And so, let me just leave you with a question: If you had a balikbayan box of your own, how would it represent your relationship with your father?
