Our first Christmas ‘together’, December, 1961. Did we watch the Lantern Parade on UP Campus? What I remember is that we met your sister, Ate Pie, and we ate at Max’s. So much food was left, so you had it wrapped and gave it to me. I was going home to Batangas the next day, and I took the whole fried chicken with me.
Earlier, you had given me Christmas gifts–a jewelry box, handkerchiefs, an expensive bag. But what I cherish most was our time together, which made my Christmas vacation seem like an eternity. Going back to Manila with my sisters for the New Year, we went to Diliman in the hope of seeing you, but the Listening Center was closed, and you weren’t at your boarding-house. As I later learned, you were at the Listening Center, quietly reading a book. (Those were the days when there wasn’t mandatory Christmas vacation yet.) New Year’s Day came and went, my sisters went back to the province, and soon enough, it was the first day of classes in the New Year of 1962. I could hardly wait to see you. It was only then that I felt really happy again, seeing you and listening to Brahms’ Symphony No. 4.