its been twenty years since my grandfather passed away on valentine's day. since it will be nanay's 90th birthday in march, i've been working on an album and slideshow for her. i've been looking at old pictures of them and our family. since my trip to the pi and having been influenced by efforts by relatives on my father's side to record their family history, i've also been working to piece together a family tree for my mother's side. it is sorely needed. my mother doesn't even recall some of the names of her nieces and nephews. i am fortunate to have visited (finally!) the childhood home of my mother and house of my grandparents.
that day twenty years ago was really sad because my pregnant dog scarlett also died due to complications from giving birth. she had given birth to one puppy, arvin, who passed two days later. i was merely a child and had no means of procuring critical veterinary care to scarlett or arvin. i felt helpless. my family was in mourning and focused on nothing else.
