Love and Expectations

A Balikbayan box waiting to be picked up by the front door and standing beside a tall mirror with its reflection on it.  Balikbayan box has a very saturated yellow-orange color while it has a black & white background.

“Buksan nyo na, dali!” 

By Dianne Miranda

The balikbayan box always arrived like a guest we’d been preparing for with so much anticipation and quiet longing. Sealed in many layers of red or silver tape, covered in scrawled written addresses and stickers to make sure that it returned to loved ones, often battered from the long journey, corners softened, cardboard sagging but still whole. 

When I was younger, I thought it was magic — this box was bottomless. It kept providing, from canned goods to clothing like the One Direction merch my mother had lined up hours for to giant chocolate that was as long as my arms. Each item a treasured gift packed with tenderness and care as they were tucked in their perfect spots between bubble wrap.

Now that I’m older, I realize that it was not magic, but rather the sacrifice of migration and the promise of a better life. It was love packed carefully, crossing oceans to find us and the hope to one day be reunited.

Tet Millare

Tet Millare (they/them) is a Gen-X’er + long-time settler in Treaty 7, who is originally from the Philippines.  Tet is an artist of various expressions: photographer, writer, poet, story-teller, dancer, occasional singer and event producer.  Tet is a community builder and has volunteered for various orgs like 2010 Paralympics, Calgary
Outlink, Camp fYrefly, Treaty 7 Trans and Dyke March…and many more.

Dianne Miranda

Dianne Miranda (they/them) was born, raised in the Philippines and has been a grateful uninvited settler in Moh’kins’tsis for almost ten years now. Dianne is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Calgary.