30 years later Annie is back

Hello again WordPress. I tend to come back here at the end or the beginning of a year. This happens after realizing that I haven’t written in a long, long time. And I mean it by loooong time.

Time is going by too quick, it’s scary. Last week, I turned 38 years old. When I first launched this blog- it was I think over 15 years ago- I was in my early twenties, still in fashion school, figuring out the world day by day, word by word as I blogged about it here. Now I’m nearing my 40s and my life has turned a complete 180 and not a whole lot of the changes I shared here. Mostly the lazy way through IG posts and stories where they are archived after 24 hours of visibility to my 680+ followers 😂

I’ve decided to come back here. I have some time now and I have been inspired to write again… Not because it’s a New Year again, and not because it’s a New Year’s Resolution to write on my blog that I pay a premium for every year so I can keep a piece of my mind, a mark, a form of existence somewhere in this websphere.

It’s because Annie is back.

Brons and I had the opportunity to travel quite a lot before and after Covid. We traveled mostly to Japan. Then, we went to Europe where we finally made it to Paris, London, Rome, and Tuscany (promise to write about them later). Just about a month ago, my sister Nat and I went to the Philippines. We went there for a homecoming. This was my first time in 30 years to go back home since we had left when we were children.

It was amazing, emotional, and my heart was so full going back seeing our family- our cousins who I’ve met for the first time, neighbors and friends who knew us since we were little. Most importantly, we got to see our uncle who I love so much, my favorite uncle, my mother’s sister uncle Pablo.

Growing up, they all called me Annie, a nickname for Honey.

We got to see our family estate, calamansi farm and the bukid (farmland) that belongs to our mother and her siblings, passed on to them by our grandparents.

Spending time with them made me remember my mother and the legacy that she left behind. I have never felt so much love around me and within me as much as I did being back home to the Philippines. Part of me wanted to stay back and never leave. I felt mama everywhere I went and to everyone that I spoke to, because she left that much of herself with the people who knew her. I could almost hear her say “Annie, dito ako”, which is “Honey, I’m here.”

But reality hits me as I know I needed to go back home here in Hawaii so I can fulfill the legacy that mama left behind.

I had a tiny bit of homecoming experience. It was a visit that was too short but incredibly heartwarming. It was the most life-changing trip. I’ve decided to continue mama’s legacy. In helping the family and protecting the family estate.

Thank you for checking in, I’ll be back again soon.

Love,

Honey