because without our memories, we are nothing.

last weekend, after five long years of busily living our lives away from home, our family was complete once again.

the brother who slaved away two years of his life in dubai, the other brother who is now pursuing a geothermal engineering career in the metropolis, and the sister who spends her days and nights nursing the inconsolable and the medically miserable in cebu finally went home.

naturally, what ensued was a mayhem that we have not tasted for those five longing years. love, apparently, is fleeting and evasive altogether -- but all it needs is an ignition, a memory, and once stoked to its full form, it rushes back to the sensibilities.

last sunday, we spent the entire day melted by the sun's warmth, bathed by the blue waters of the loving sea, and engulfed by the childhood stories and life anecdotes that we have collectively gathered and called our very own.

and right in the middle of the beautiful ruckus, in the unguarded moment when one simply feels, sees, and tastes the bliss of childhood abandon, i mused about:

how we are all really transient beings. that there is no definitive label as to who we really are. yes, we are defined by constructed standards -- we have our identities -- but more than these trivialities, we are defined by our memories, our collectivity, and our shared sense of identity.

our memories, of happy and loving days, and most especially that we are all inclined to romanticize the past, remind us that once upon a time, happiness was within reach.

for in the midst of the chaos that surrounds us as we try to make our own niche in the vastness of the world, our memories keep us grounded and remind us of who we truly are -- that in the midst of family, the world is ours for the taking, and there is nothing that can hinder us from becoming what the universe has intended for us to become.

yes, it is easy to get lost in the trappings of the world, and our very identities are oftentimes compromised by the fluidity of living, but when we are reminded of our childhood bliss -- of days spent frolicking under the sun, nights dedicated to reminiscing stories of days and nights that have since passed, and summers spent being sun-kissed and not minding that sun burns will scar the skin – we are reminded of what satiates the yearnings of the heart.

and even when our very mortality inevitably makes the flesh wither and perish, our memories will forever be infinitesimal -- and they will be our validation that once upon a time, when happiness was abundant and life was less doleful, we were in the midst of love, and love was as trivial as the morning dew, or the first flower that blooms in spring.

yes, we are all transient beings -- but having the best travellers around can make the lack of permanance less scathing.