Easter Sunday and Corned beef

Dear Mouse,
I am not tall but am taller than an average Filipina. I have to thank my grandmother for it. No, she did not give me vitamins and other food supplements. She just made me stepped on a stool or a chair every Easter Sunday and jumped. Para raw tumaas. Then when I tried to measure my height after jumping, she would exclaim, wow tumaas ka ng isang pulgada. (inch). I suspected all the time that it was due to that butterfly ribbon that they adorned my hair. I hated it. My brother used to tease me that it was a helicopter parked on top of my head. Because of the height, I missed several opportunities to find a prince charming who did not have to look up in order to dance with me.

1. Grade one-my first crush (I talked about him already, I think, did I not? to the readers--why are you reading my thoughts?) He was 2 inches shorter than I was at that time so he was paired to another girl in a dance number in a school program. Ako doon sa isang mataba na magsayaw na akala mo duck. Sabi ni mommy, di bale na, itik-itik naman ang sayaw eh. But my brothers had a helluva time teasing me.

The next time I saw him, was when my mom arranged for our meeting in Makati. Sabi niya, naalala mo yong niligawan ka ng papa ni E. para pakasal daw kayo, paglaki ninyo? Nasa Makati sila nakatira at gusto kang makita. Wow, grade one lang pala ako, mayroon na palang akong pinagkasundo. I did not mind. I remembered him to be good looking kahit mas maliit sa akin..

So off we went. Intro, intro, beso beso. Tapos para bang pelikula---freeze frame-- Ala Piolo,ang dating. Susme, gusto kong sabih n, kumusta ba diyan sa baba? Hindi ba siya pinakain ng margarina na walang tinapay?.

2. Nanligaw na kaklase.. Type sana. Matangkad naman siya sa akin ng isang pulgada pag ako nakatsinelas. Hindi naman pwedeng magtsinelas sa junior/senior's prom.

My sister did not mind the height. Her husband is a few inches shorter. Natuto siyang magsuot ng flat shoes. My other sister is married to an ALIEN. Matangkad lang yong ALIEN ng kaunti. Hindi kagaya ng ibang Pilipina na hanggang beywang..

Ako, may nagkakamaling alien na dumalaw. Palagi namang nauuntog doon sa aking door chimes. Minsan mga ibon ang door chimes ko, hagip ng kaniyang buhok. Para bang nakakita ako ng nest with birds. Hindi na siya bumalik. Hianapan ko kasi ng itlog..

There is another superstitious belief na attributed to Easter Sunday. If the child is slow in speech development, my lola's advice was to get a key and make symbolic opening by putting the key between the lips of the child at the stroke of twelve on Easter Sunday. .

My mom confessed that they applied that to me too. At age two, I got a speech problem. While other children substitute y for l, mine was odd, I pronounced it with r instead. So when I liked to say---lalaro ako? I say rararo ako. My dad thought that the STORK must have made a stop over somewhere in Japan before I was delivered at their doorstep. You know this Stork story stuff?.

That was Easter Sunday. They got the key ready. Then the grandfather clock chimed. They looked for the key. They can't find it. Panic, panic. We had a can of corned beef in the kitchen cabinet. My mom got the key. Puwede na rin ba raw yon?

Now I know why I stocked up my pantry with corned beef..

The CA t.