Sweet Dreams

Pop quiz: what does PS stand for in the Sweet Dreams book series?

I was passing by a news stand on my way to the clinic this morning when i saw among a pile of old magazines and paperbacks several Sweet Dreams books of my youth. I can't help but smile as I asked the owner of the stand if they were for sale. He said yep, for 10 bucks a piece. I quickly scanned through the titles and picked up several pieces which I've read over and over when I was in high school. I saw copies of The Popularity Plan, The Summer Jenny fell in love, Ten-Boy Summer, Cover Girl, Tender Loving Care, Little Sister...etc...but no PS I love you. I bought 4 titles and realized how back then I had to save for weeks just to be able to buy a new one for 13 pesos. I remember how my classmates and I would assign titles for each of us to buy and then later we'd swap. Then we'd talk about which books made us kilig, which girl in the book we want to be, which boy in the book we like, and which book made us cry--and that book would always be PS I love you.

Maybe I'm being over-dramatic when I say that looking at these books and thinking about those years gets me misty-eyed and makes me all choked-up inside. I can't help but recall how things were so simple back then, how life was so care-free when all we'd worry about were school, friends, boys (sometimes) and how we'd make such big deal of the little things. It feels like eons ago, especially now that my classmates and I are preparing for our silver jubillee homecoming next year. Gulp. If that doesn't give away my age already, I don't know what else will.

BTW, to the teen-aged girls like me in the 80's, PS I love you means Paul Strobe I love you. Go Figure.