All Bags, No Face Value

Edmund was in Baguio two weeks ago two times in a row for the annual Fil-Am golf competition. On his first day, he told me he shot a two under par which was a record breaker in the tournament’s history. But the next few days, he did bad. He was actually the champion last year.
He also told me before they left Manila, he bought cookies, jello, candies, water and chips from Rustan’s Supermarket. Baon daw nya. The cashier commented “Ay sir ang dami nyong pinamili para sa mga apo nyo”. “angsweetnilolo”. Gusto daw nyang sungalngalin yung babae. Wala man lang ka gatul-gatol. Mukha na talaga daw syang lolo. He compared his photo last February 2015 with his selfie a few days ago. He concluded that he aged by 10 years at least.

I went to a clothing store yesterday afternoon looking for a sweater that doesn’t look very sweatery if there’s such a thing. Yung hindi mukhang pangginaw talaga. While walking in between the racks of clothes, I walked by a full length mirror. I caught someone in my peripheral vision. Nagulat ako parang ang tanda nung ale. I walked back to look. My God, that was me!!! Ang pangit-pangit ko. Waahh happened? I used to be cute. Now, I aged tremendously. I am not saying this all because of vanity. No. I am saying this as a painful acceptance that STRESS does speed-up the aging process.

I looked at the mirror for about two minutes and stared at myself. I felt like weeping. “Oh my, look at all the lines on my face”. My eyes are drooping. Meron na akong eyebags, lahat ng bags meron.
Every single line on my face represents all the problems we carried and are still carrying on our shoulders up to now.

The past two years were the equivalent of twenty years of problems compacted into two years.

Edmund and I compared our photos, before and after.
My photos in February 2015 looked so different from my photos in May 2015. That was only a span of 3 months but I looked 5 years older. Not so bad right?
That’s a lot of years but that is not the kicker.
My photos in February of 2016 compared to my photos taken in May 2016, a span of three months again, looked like I aged by 10 years.

Wrinkles on my face were the aftermath of two or three waves of tsunamis in 2015 and the big bang this year that shook me and Edmund to the core.

My photos taken in February 2016 vs my photos taken two days ago, a span of less than 10 months, looked like I aged by ten solid years. I am not joking. Sad but true. This is not about vanity
like what I’ve said. It’s about the problems Edmund and I are hurdling and are causing our bodies to age tremendously, faster than the speed of light.

Selfie with Oyen in mid-February 2016. O hayan na, kitang-kita na ang effect. Pero wala pa yung big explosion, pero hulas na ang mukha ko.

This photo was taken in Balesin on March 18 or 19 before we discovered the third and biggest wave of our problem. It exploded on my face like Mount Pinatubo.

Photo taken in Napa Valley, first week of May 2016. I didn’t want to have any more close-up photos because the agony in my heart were already manifesting on my face.

Photo taken in August 2016. Bilbil at pileges contest. Puffy eyes couldn’t hide from the camera.

With my niece Tintin, photo taken on November 24, 2016

The last time I received a compliment that I looked young and pretty was sometime in July of this year. Hindi na naulit. Ngayon, puro bag ko na lang ang pinupuri at alahas ko. “Oooh I like your bag”. “That ring is gorgeous”. “Excuse me, where did you buy your bag?” “I want your bag!” Even men noticed my handbag. Eh dati ako ang na no notice nila. “You look beautiful”. Meron pa ngang nadadapa sa katitingin sa kin. Ngayon “Mam, your purse is beautiful”.

Men just look at my bag so that they could buy also for their wives. While in Beijing last October, this pabling tycoon grabbed my blue sapphire bag, “Annie, akin na bag mo, palit tayo”. Tingnan mo nagbago na ang mundo, Seven years ago we bumped into each other at a business event at the Intercon, when he saw me, biniro ako, “I would love to have an affair with you”. Ngayon, yung bag ko ang pinag-nanasaan.

Last Saturday, I saw 4 pretty young ladies dressed in Santa outfits trying to take a group picture against the giant Christmas tree. I volunteered to take their photos. They were all blond and they all looked like Barbie dolls. One of the girls said, “Mam, I like your bag, that’s sooo nice”.

See? Sabi sa’yo puro bag na lang, wala ng face value.
I can’t imagine how I would look like in March 2017.

And the speed aging continues……