Two days ago I celebrated my 45th birthday. Now, looking back and pondering, I just realized how time flew by so fast. I could still remember myself as a young girl who made so many mistakes and have been so careless. I could picture myself as a lanky lass who wore torn short pants and got bullied because of her stick-like frame.

Where did those years go? I ask myself over and over. If I knew that I would miss those times, I should’ve savored those moments.
I shouldn’t have rushed myself.
I should’ve stayed innocent and carefree.

But life has a way of tossing you in places. And even if there were so many things you’d rather forget about, there were also an abundance of joyful and heartfelt moments you would never trade for anything.

Now, I know that aging is creeping up on me—on us—through our very obvious silver strands, our frequent trips to the doctor, and the strange words that come out of our mouths. Our kids may cringe all they want, but hey, we enjoyed our childhood. And this is how we are- flaws and all🙄.

The other day, as we were talking about the past and those fun times we had. Our daughter asked: Bakit ang dami nyong ganyang moments? ( Why do you have so many of those moments?)
I can’t remember exactly what the story was about, but it was probably about playing outdoors under the sun and the mishaps that occurred along the way.
My husband answered: E kse wala kaming cellphone nun. ( We didn’t have cellphones back then)

Yeah, come to think of it, we went outside when we were bored and tried to find ways to entertain ourselves. How I wish I could go back to playing Piko and 10-20 instead of worrying all the time on just about anything.

I wish I could say that I’ve achieved what I wanted at 45. No, I haven’t. But let me tell you this- even if that’s the case- I’m okay.