Finding Your Roots

Last Shopping Day

I walked into Forever 21 with my older sister Leilani. "Hay naku, Atara, make up your mind!" She playfully rolled her eyes and grabbed her fiancé, and my soon to be kuya, Ben.

"So nice of you to come with me and pretend to be Mom, Ate, very original." I responded, screening my eyes past a lot of in-demand pastel colored articles of clothing. I grabbed an oversized sweater and put it in my shopping bag. 

Ate Lei looked at me, grabbed my hand out of the yellow Forever 21 shopping bag, and sneaked the sweater out of it. "Do you really thing you're going to need this sweater in the Philippines, Tara?" I looked down and realized that when I was there this past September, I did not need anything top that went past my shoulders.

".....No."

"Good, now take that shxt somewhere else."

-

In the car, I belted out to Tagalog songs that Ate downloaded on her iPhone so she could make fun of my moving to the Philippines.

She and Ben laughed at me but soon ended up joining. Boy was I going to miss these kind of bonding moments with my siblings once I move. Ate Lei turned the volume down. "Hey, kid."

I looked at her and stretched my seatbelt to look her in the eye. "Yes?"

She looked at Ben for a second and turned back to me. "You know we're going to miss you right?"

I smirked, Of course, I responded.

"Good. But don't go running back here when you miss us too much, too, okay? Hang in there. Also, don't return as too much of a Filipino, I wouldn't know what to do with you when that happens, okay!" Ben turned back to face me when he hit a red light.

"I know, I know. I'm pretty heroic for taking this opportunity, right?" I smiled but deep inside, I knew that I was going to miss them.

Ben turned back to face the car in front of him as he sped past them, "So, Costco run?"