Cheers To You, Jach!

 Inside every older person is a younger person - wondering what the hell happened? - Cora Harvey Armstrong

Most of my days right now are like this, the air thin and eager, with something in it sad and familiar. I feel a pang - a strange and inexplicable pang of homesickness for old joys and memories. 

Suddenly, I want to go back and be in all the places I'd ever been, every street I'd walked down, every room I'd sat down in. I want to see it all again. 

School Valedictorian, 12 years old.
Quirino Elementary, Quezon City: 1957

That's why when birthdays come around, I go for nostalgia, the lump in the throat, the tear in the eye, the tug in the heart. I try to remember, flipping through old family photos and mementoes that amplify good memories.

Like these ones.

(Left): High School Grad, 16 years old. (Right): High School Diploma, Original Document. UP: 1961

Left: Birthday celebration, Columbus, 2021.
Right: After-lunch drink on Waikiki Beach, 2022

But enough of the past. You can't change it.

Forget about the future. You can't predict it.

Enjoy now, for there is no time like the present.

So, here's to you, Jach.

You're like fine wine. 

Aged.

Indeed.

Sophisticated. 

Not sure.

Full-bodied. 

Alexa is still thinking about that.

Lunch from Olay's Thai Lao Cuisine, DoorDash birthday gift from First Daughter and Son-In-Law, 2022

Chocolate banana bread dessert, Roy's Eating House, Waikiki, 2022

Happy Hour has never been happier. Roy's, 2022

Whatever. However.

May the fleas of a thousand dogs infest the crotch of those who screw your day, and may their arms be too short to scratch.

 Let your especial day be filled with joy... and wine!