Tomorrow, March 26th is my sister Edwina’s 55th birthday. I wish I was celebrating it with her.
It has been about a year since I was in the Philippines trying to sniff a trail of her. And even though she is not here with us to celebrate her birthday, I would like to think that I have found her. Maybe not physically but at least within me. I have to keep writing about her because let’s face it, we do not get any younger as the years pass and with each year, our memories are not as clear. Writing helps us keep those memories intact and true.
She also did a little bit of journal writing. I’m not sure if she really enjoyed it but she got a pink calendar journal one year (1977) and she wrote down things she did almost daily that year. This journal is one of her things that we have left. My mom has given it to me a couple of years ago, right before I started my search. On occasion, I pick it up and it gives me comfort reading her words on how her day went on a particular day in 1977. I imagine being there as she recounted some events. They are not long, really they are just short sentences announcing what she did that day. There is an entry of me here and there and that makes me smile.
I do not have a gift for Edwina for her birthday except maybe just the fact that I think about her still and she’ll be forever in my heart.
Happy 55th birthday my dear Ate Edwina! I hope we can see each other soon.
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*Ate /ˈɑːteɪ/ Filipino word added to the names of an older sister.
The True North 