What’s there not to love about this month?

Of course I am probably biased It’s the one month in the year when practically everyday, there is someone I know who has a birthday maybe we co-Librans just like hanging out with each other. There isn’t an Octoberian I know that I didn’t like. Those of you reading this know who you are

I found this old phtograph of mine while digging through my mother’s trove of old albums. As you get deeper into mid-life that’s one thing you love to do… well, I guess unless you had an unhappy childhood. I must have been four or five here. For the life of me, I can’t remember why nakapayong ako?!? Hindi naman tumutulo ang bubong namin! Maybe gusto ko lang mag-emote.

Childhood photographs always give us a glimpse of our real selves. The persons we were before life became complicated, before we felt we had to adjust our personalities and psyches so that we could be accepted by others. When my daughter saw this photo, she laughed and said, “gosh mom, you we’re such a priss” Who me? Well, take a look at the frou-frou socks and the impish grin. As my friend Anne says, childhood is always the age of innocence.

At mid-life you come to terms with many things, and hopefully, after a long and sometimes arduous process of introspection, you return to the authentic self - the “real you”. The you before life and love became complicated. The you that surfaces after you’ve slain your dragons and rid yourself of the non-essentials. I look at this photograph and I see a familiar smile. “The priss” is finally back in a kinder, wiser form, minus the socks. Thank God!