The "trips" & "falls" of a Divine Viva

Our family picture (I'm the youngest in a brood of 5)

I used to be a very shy girl (stress on the word "very"). I would easily hide under my shell and retreat to my room whenever my parents would have visitors in our home. And when this would happen, I would overhear my parents apologetically tell their "kumares" and "kumpares", "Oh, that's our youngest, you see, she's very shy."

I have never been a sociable person, more so, the "biba" kind. Maybe as a way to overcome my shyness, my parents would usually ask me to play the piano to entertain our visitors. Just the thought of unfamiliar faces watching me would make me cringe, what more when it was actually happening? Yes, I would oblige but those moments were like, killing-me-softly-moments. Thinking about it now, I'm glad I had those moments. It just proved that my parents believed in my capabilities so much and were very proud of me.

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