This past week I have been opening each box slowly, gingerly, to savour the moments of pleasure in poring through every piece of my parents' lives that are now chronicled in these boxes because when we cleared their apartment I realized that what I was seeking among their belongings were memories and memorabilia that can comfort me. Suddenly it became a quest and i found myself focused on the task of grabbing every handwritten souvenir from them. Every scrap of paper, every little or large notebook Mommy wrote anything on, every little note or scribble that I could find, I packed in these boxes. Even receipts from Walgreens or Target were precious to me as it gave me a glimpse of the date and how they must have spent their day when they went out to shop. Then I found greeting cards my mother carefully kept in boxes, from friends and from herself that she forgot to mail. there were letters from relations and pals from all over the world that shone like gold among the ruins to me. I have them all in these boxes. I spent my first day of unpacking listening to my Dad singing "For All We Know.....we may never meet again" with a group of music lovers and fun loving crowd that probably included some of you. It was a heartbreaking yet heartwarming experience to hear Daddy crack a joke between songs and Mommy kibitzing on the side and raucous laughter ensuing intermittently. I cried and laughed at the same time and spent most of the afternoon buried amidst boxes full of memories.

 

In the box as written in that paragraph, was one of her notebook of recipes which I found with no struggles or anxieties. I knew then that Mommy wanted to share her Binangkal recipe that she had perfected through the years, using available ingredients in the USA. I did not know the extent of the popularity of her Binangkal until I attended a birthday party for Mrs. Cabarse at Gerard and Garaldine Cabarse's residence in California. Geraldine, a new friend I was so happy to meet asked about Mom's recipe for Binangkal. Her mother who was a consummate cook judging from the tasty dishes we enjoyed, acknowledged my Mom's Binangkal and I was very proud of my mother and wished she would have been there to listen to all the compliments.

So here in their memorial website, I will share Sheila's recipes with love. I know this would make her happy.