I ticked something off a personal bucket list in the last quarter of 2013. Oh, was 2013 just yesterday? That item was to pose for a picture inside a swimming pool, one emptied of water. Of course, I had to be extra-careful going down and up after the clicks were done. The old machine I inhabit isn't what it used to be.
However, the image that stayed with me was of young missy Widsy, daughter of Jemil and Patch Araos. She wore a dress with a print of Tinkerbell, a character in the James Barrie tale of Peter Pan.
Looking at this picture on New Year's morning, I am transported again to the time when Dad took me out to watch the Disney animation of Peter Pan back when I was as tall as Widsy. We saw it at Republic Theater in Manila--now I don't know, I don't care what has become of that landmark building. Present-day requirements have a way of demolishing the past.
But the story of Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, never faded. I have a remembrance of that little girl who thought Neverland was so real. That very night after we watched the movie, I gazed out of my grandmother's grilled window and tried to spot Neverland in the sky.
May new times find us all gazing out of or looking through similar but unfettered windows.
And keep on swimming.
Widsy in an emptied pool in Laguna Photo by Babeth Lolarga
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