All About ME

An Unfinished Story

Once upon a time, in the dawn of the 19th of September, 1990, a baby girl named “Kate” was born…
…And she lived happily ever after.
Oops. That was too early to say. Moreover, that was very, very far from reality. Catherine Jane E. Nequinto, or Kate, was far from “living happily ever after” since it was neither ending at the moment nor was it happy all the time.
She is the second born to Ma. Veronica E. Nequinto and Remon D. Nequinto. Her parents decided to marry after she was born. They thought it is for the better, and that me and my eldest sister Ma. Elena are going to need a formal family where there is a mother, a father, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and aunts.
Then, after three years, Kate’s second sister, Bianca Mae, was born. Three years after that, her last sibling—and the only male in the brood of four—was born. Kate was the one who named his baby brother Ian Paulo. She’s been dreaming about that name days before her brother was born.
However, in life it was never always smooth sailing. Even when she was young, her parents’ relationship was always at the verge of being broken. She never liked the fights that she had witnessed or the bursts of anger that she was seeing every time they have a disagreement or when they fight over something. Actually, she thought that their separation would bring more good to their family than their staying together. Even when she was still young she had this habit of speaking up her mind, and she did so by expressing her thoughts and feelings to her mother about the separation. But her mother refused to be shaken by their fights and still wanted to try to keep the family together.
Up to now, they are living up to that decision of her mother. Now, her eldest sister, Ma. Elena, is already reviewing for the board exam in Nursing after graduating last year. Her other sister, Bea, is already on her third year in high school, and was planning to take the UPCAT on her fourth year. The youngest of the brood and the only boy, Ian, is already on Grade 6 this year.
As you can see, her life was far from a fairy tale. No wicked witch, no wicked stepmothers and stepsisters, no Prince Charming, and certainly no poisoned apples. But there definitely are dragons that besiege her life, dragons that kept of testing her and pushing her to the edge. Yet, she was valiantly holding on and fighting these dragons, using her shield, her armor and her sword. From time to time she acquire burns, get wounded, and at times she even thought of removing her armor and just let the dragon’s breath of fire eat her all up. Her dreams and her promise to her mom are the things that are stopping her and what’s making her hold her ground. She has big dreams. And she’s determined to pursue these dreams until it was in her grasp.
College is just a step away from achieving her dreams…and the dream of living happily ever after would be—I think—her next goal after chasing her ambitions. Her skirmishes with the dragons are not yet ending here, but instead they are merely starting to unfold at this point in time. She still needs her armor, her shield and her sword.
And there are still more dragons to come…and slay.