"If tomorrow comes and I forget about this, and I forget about you, will you still love me?"
Yesterday. Love. Nothing else matters to Lee Gabriel than Odyssey Lee. If love was a manifestation, iyon ay ang pag-ibig ni Lee. At unti-unti rin yong naram...
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March 31, 2012
It's Lee's graduation. Habang nakapila ang mga estudyanteng naghahandang magmartsa, nasa likod naman ang lahat mga magulang, maliban na lang sa mga magulang ng mga nagtapos ng may karangalan.
Like Perci who is the youngest to sit on the space provided for honor students. He is equally embarrassed and proud to sit there with the oldies. Dahil siya lang naman ang tanging pamilya ng kuya niya. At aangal pa ba siya, Simon Odyssey is graduating with flying colors.
Sa likuran, hindi naman maipinta ang mukha ni Arthur. Wala itong kaugnayan sa pagtatapos ni Lee. If anything, he is a proud dad. But with all the problems surrounding him, halos hindi niya na alam kung anong gagawin. He just held the hand of the woman beside him.
"Don't worry. I am okay." Ngumiti si Kristina. "We are at the high school graduation of my daughter. Our only daughter. We should be happy." She said, not actually for her husband, but she is reiterating that to herself.
"Good..." Ngumiti ang tatay ni Lee. "But don't you think we should tell her?"
"Not now..."
Arthur remained silent. If not now, then when? Kapag wala na rin itong kakayahang sabihin ito?
Kristina isn't numb. Nor dumb. She can feel these tensions between them. They weren't husband and wife if they didn't know what the other is feeling. But she just smiled as she excuse herself.
"CR lang ako."
"Pasama ka kay Yaya Melay."
"Alam ko kung nasaan ang CR." She insists.
Because she looked for a more deserted wash room. In there, Kristina looked at herself in the mirror. As if memorizing her face. But she forced a bitter smile because she knew there is no use. In due time makakalimutan niya ang lahat.
Lumalala na siya. She was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimers a year ago and with that short amount of time, her lapses has became severe. She had many lucid intervals, pero marami na siyang hindi alam. She even forget the names of a lot of objects around her. She is daunted by the fact that she will forget her family, and herself.
"You are Kristina C. Gabriel." She told herself. "You are Arthur's wife, and Lee's mom. Graduation niya today. Don't lapse. Don't lapse. Please don't." She begged.
As soon as she tried to get a grip of reality, she was overwhelmed by the fact that their company is going bankrupt. She was trying so hard to ignore this fact. Siguro nga, nakadagdag pa ito sa trigger kung bakit siya lumalala— dahil sa mga problemang gusto niyang kalimutan. But that's it. She didn't want to forget anything else.
Kristina broke down.
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