I Love New York, But I Miss the Old Country...

HI ! My name's Virmarie Ruiz and I live here in Brooklyn, New York. After a long day, I decided to surf the net and to browse around Tanikalang Ginto, when I came across your web site.

I am also a stamp collector. I've been collecting ever since I was 8. You said that you were giving away some of your stamps, so I guess it wouldn't hurt if I told you the reason why I'd like to have them.

I've lived here in New York for almost 10 years. I left the Philippines right before I turned 8 and I was never able to go back. I realize that I am very lucky to be here in America, but at the same time, I feel as if a large part of my childhood and what I am was left behind the day I came here. Gone are the Santa Cruzans that I dressed up for...the festivals and the Easter times that brought so much joy and religious fervor. I cannot eat those lanzones and santols. I cannot climb those alatiris trees anymore.

All my relatives are there: My cousins, my uncles and aunts. Somebody else lives in our old house. My classmates are older now and they won't remember me. My friends have moved away and have forgotten me. It's especially the loneliest around Christmas time and during birthdays. It great to have my mother, my father, my brother and sister all sitting with me in our dinner table. I'm very blessed to have them.Yet somehow, it's not the same when you know that there are people who love you, only you can't be with them because they're too far away.

I like New York. I've grown up here and I've met so many wonderful people. I wouldn't trade places with anyone in the world, because God has blessed me and my family so much. For that, I am grateful. But, it would mean a lot to me to have two of your stamps. If you've run out, maybe just one. The Triumphant Arch is very beautiful. I also liked the one with the Pretty Filipina Lady on it. That Abe Lincoln is really something! (I really got a kick out of seeing those stamps because American colonization of the Philippines was one of the subjects that we covered in my class this year).

These stamps are the kind of stuff that links me to history, to the Philippines and to my own past. It's something concrete that I can hold on to. That is why I would like to have them.