she never really considers us as her aunts. even when she first started talking, we have always been el-el and janjan to her. her playmates. declaring either one of us as her bff while ignoring the other when she’s being cheeky, all depending on her mood and whoever could offer her the most amount of fun on any given day.

only recently did she start pinning the word “auntie” before our names. but only because mommy’s been “charging” her 10 pesos every time she hears her address us like we are of the same age. so far, she owes mommy 300+ pesos. i told her we could already buy ice cream with that. she told mommy to go buy ice cream with the money she hasn’t yet paid her. lol.

frankly, i don’t see any harm in her calling me by my first name despite our 25-year gap. so long as she says it with love and affection.

truth be told, i’d rather be the cool aunt who, halfway through giving her a shower, urgently orders her to wear her undies and shirt again so we could go outside and play in the rain.

sail paper boats on ocean puddles and watch them sink.

chase frogs we never intend to touch.

collect dried leaves in lieu of paper boats when we run out of them.

feel my heart explode as she exclaims amidst the sound of occasional thunder and heavy rain: “this is the best day today!”

too bad we didn’t have pictures of that day. but i took a million shots of it and tattooed them all to memory. wrote about it here for backup, just in case either one of us forgets how cold the rain on our skin was on that day, but, oh, how warm it made us feel inside!

what i do have here, though, are pictures of another one of her best days. which happens to be another one of my best days too. =)