Retreat (15'-16')

      Last Thursday (July 16), me and my class finally had the school recollection!!! It is quite exciting, since this year, we were allowed to have the recollection at a different venue. We held our retreat aka recollection at a retreat house. Before July 16, I woke up my mom who was sleeping and told her, "Mommy, we have to be early tomorrow. We HAVE to". If you didn't know, I am a total early bird. Being late is one of the things I really hate. As the 16th came, I woke up really early and went downstairs. I ate some cereals for breakfast and waited for my parents to get ready. A little later, I found out that they went jogging. Great. Perfect timing. When they got back to the house, they still didn't take a bath. They ate breakfast, and even watched some TV. What happened to me? I fell asleep. Yes. You read it. I fell asleep. My dad had told me that we were going to get out of the house by 6:40 and I was told that that was early. Guess what? We haven't got out by 6:40.

     Anyway, me and my family rode the car and went to Sacred Heart. As we entered the gate, my eyes shined of amazement. The place was beautiful. The trees stood there with swings and benches, the grass was as green as ever, some of the soil was colored red, a fountain in a corner stood peacefully, letting its water jump like fireworks. The place was huge. My adventurous mode was leaping. We went to the very front of the place. My dad stopped the car as me and my mom went down. Two people who I assumed were working at the Novitiate opened the doors to a small yet beautiful door. There, I saw my classmates. Almost all of them including the other section were there. I wasn't late YET, but I wasn't early. I couldn't really explain how I felt, but I knew that I hated not coming early. 

     Sooo, eventually I had to go inside the room and join the others. I sat next to Holly and waited for only a FEW to come. Our teachers made us form two lines for each section (We only had 2 sections since I was a part of the second batch.) then we each took a seat of where we were told. I sat on the third to the last row. The recollection began with brother telling us stuff about growing up, blah blah blah. Then, he asked us to make a drawing of a stained glass. It should also symbolize our strength, weakness, responsibility, and resolution. I drew a rose with a cross in the middle of it and darkness with stars behind it. My strength was the cross, my responsibility was the rose, my weakness was the dark, and my resolution was the stars. The recollection continued with recess (Which meant free food!!!). We ate spaghetti and bread with some Nestea. Our Principal visited us and we sang her a Happy Birthday, since we were told that it was her birthday. Then Brother continued telling us some stuff, and told us some funny stories about his little brother. Then lunch came. We ate fried chicken with rice, mangoes for dessert, a bowl of soup, and some plain water (And, I talked to my old friend Dina. It looks like I am making friends after all!) Then we had our confession and the part where a lot of my classmates cried. Brother told us to blindfold ourselves using our handkerchieves and imagine ourselves coming home from school with God picking us up. As we went home, no one was there. Brother told us to imagine God giving us the Photo album of our lives. Then he told us to imagine God saying "Kamusta ang ugnayan mo sa iyong pamilya?" Then I imagined myself opening the album, then Brother told us to imagine our family members slowly fading away. Then he would ask. When was the last time we said I love you to our parents? I told myself, "Last night". He asked; When was the last time you hugged your parents? I told myself "Last night" Then I heard some of my classmates sobbing with buckets of tears. I didn't really feel sad like the others, since that was hugging and saying I love you was quite normal for me. When we were allowed to remove our handkerchieves, we were instructed to write a letter to our parents. 

     The next thing I knew was that the mass was about to start. The chairs in the room multiplied and parents entered the room finding a seat. I looked at my parents then smiled. Father Lester came in and the mass started. Then, we were asked to give our letters to our parents and we were told that our parents were going to give us letters as well. I scanned the two letters from my mom and dad. They were sooooo long. The day ended up with me and my family going to our favorite mall, buying ice cream from Baskin-Robbins, buying ponytails for me, and going to the hardware store.