I’ve never seen this photograph until a few days ago.

While I was in So Cal visiting family I asked my mom if I can borrow her old negs so that I can scan, digitize and then share them. Being the slacker that I am, it will and has taken me awhile to get them all done but seeing some of them already puts my nostalgia sensors on hyper drive. You see there’s not one photograph of me as an infant. Not one. This photograph is probably one of the earliest photos of me. I take it as being the youngest of 7 kids and after the 5-6th one my parents probably felt no desire to use up their hard earned cash to buy film & get it processed. Heck I don’t even think they owned a camera when we lived in the Philippines. You see they had plans for all of us – to move to the United States.

I often wonder what would have been if our family stayed in the motherland. I suspect we’d have a simpler, quieter and most likely a harder life. Can you imagine how much guts it took for my parents to move our entire family of 7 kids to a foreign land? Growing up I didn’t appreciate or see the magnitude of this decision. Heck I was too caught up with myself as any kid or teenager would be. But as an adult I can only thank my parents for giving us what we have today.

I’ve come to ask myself this question upon seeing this photograph – If I was in the same situation as my parents would I make the same bold move? Would I take the chance for a new life? Probably but I can see many forces not making me want to change my/our lives drastically. It’s just a different world now, one I fear will only get worse….ok better stop now before I go to the dark side.

Mom & Pops, thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Photo taken with my mom’s Kodak Instamatic 104 and Gold film.

My favorite photograph of all time.