Fragments

In the morning, he would walk me from our house and call a tricycle to go to school. After classes, he would fetch me from school, but that only lasted until I was on the second grade in elementary. Once, he forgot to fetch me. I was getting nervous and I started to cry. I asked my friend to stay with me but she needed to go home because her service had already arrived. I never stopped crying until he showed up at around 5 in the afternoon. He told me he fell asleep.

He can drink five cups a day. His favorite mug was the light gray one embossed with grapes on it. Sometimes, he would ask me to make him a cup of coffee. He liked it strong and dark.

He was our teacher. My brothers and I would own a single table each. My eldest brother had the biggest table, then my second brother, the second biggest, and I had the smallest one. Every night, he would teach and help us with our assignments and projects.

We often played this game where he would walk around the house with my feet over his feet. I would wrap my arms around him while supporting my back so that I won’t fall over.

I would always catch him reading a newspaper or a book. At times when he was drinking his cup of coffee or smoking his cigarette by the door, he would call out for me. I would sit on his lap while he spoke of random things or asked a few questions.

He was the one who advised me to make it a habit of going outside and looking at everything green first thing in the morning – the trees, plants, etc. He told me that it’s a great way to make my eyes refreshed. I learned the song “Do Re Mi” from him and not from the school. He informed me of the correct pronunciation of “lettuce”.