Ocean Adventure, Subic. April 24, 2005 Sunday. (Front row, left to right) Nerissa, Luzie, and Sandra. (Behind, right to left) Mom and Jane.  

Summer

The middle of summer. The weather was extreme, I always tried to stay away from the sun and the heat.

Lucy checked in Nerissa at the Philippine Heart Center on a Monday, just before she went back to California. I visited every night after work. On one ocassion I overslept on the bus after a very tiring day of work, and had to ride back practically double the distance. But nothing to have gotten upset over. Everything turned out well, with news that Nerissa would not need a follow-on operation. The cardiac cathetherization took care of the problem.

Two weeks later, Lucy was back in town with Ja Rule. Mon, who regularly drove for the foreign artists, drove Ja Rule back to the airport. After this, he went back for Lucy, Nerissa, Jane, and our Mom, at their hotel. Then they picked me up at home and off we went to Subic.

We spent the entire day together. We had lunch at Mongkok's, saw the dolphin and whale show at Ocean Adventure, shopped, and as the sun set, the girls stole a quick dip at the clubhouse pool. Like usual, I took lots of pictures. Lucy didn't understand what all the pictures were about, why on earth I took pictures of the food we were eating.

I wanted to remember everything. Where we went, what we ate, every possible moment and sensation. To capture the love.

Hesitant but not able to choose, I left shortly before 9PM. Mon drove back to the city and I took the bus home alone.

Then Monday.

The girls went to Zoobic Safari, I went back to work.

That night Lucy returned home to California, and at the airport lobby, via an instant message, she asked me to tell mom and the girls how much she loves them, and that she would be back soon.